[FL] 17 years of silence, a prayer, and a promise

A deputy's wife says she was abused for 17 years but never reported it. And when "fellow" deputies were called to her house last week,

as she was crying,
telling the police
how she tried to stop her husband,
Orange County Sheriff's Deputy Patrick Gillick,
from calling their children names,
and telling the deputies how he then assaulted her,
how he had thrown her to the floor...

as she was doing this - finally reaching for help after 17 years - a gunshot was heard upstairs.

One.

From the news:
"...In Gillick's case, there were no warnings, just several written reprimands in his file, including one last year for accidentally firing his gun at a mirror while working off-duty..."

JUST several reprimads?
JUST firing his gun into a mirror? A mirror?

The article also notes:
"...According to a national university study, officers are eight times more likely to die at their own hand than by someone else's and an estimated 40 percent of law enforcement families experience domestic violence. Both appear to be part of the sad events in this case..."

A prayer for the Gillick family,

and a promise:

There are some of us resolved to find ways
to make things better
for law enforcement officers
and their families,
and to never stop trying.

I didn't write here what Deputy Gillick was calling their children because I am a mother.
I didn't write his wife's name either because I feel the 17 years, and it's already too much that this story is here.

May it's retelling make a difference in somebody's life so the pain and death here are not in vain.