By Adam Sacasa
Sun Sentinel
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - The man who Boynton Beach police say shot a woman and then fatally shot himself was identified Friday as Palm Beach Sheriff’s deputy Michael DeMarco. He was 55.
DeMarco joined the sheriff’s office in 1995. Before that he had been with the Lake Worth Police Department since 1987.
Police are not releasing the name of the woman who was critically wounded citing state law that protects the name of domestic violence victims.
The shooting was reported Thursday morning inside the gated Inlet Harbor Club in the 2000 block of North Federal Highway in Boynton Beach.
Officers arrived to find that the shooting was an attempted murder-suicide, police said.
The woman who was shot remains hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit at Delray Medical Center, but appears to be improving according to a friend and co-worker Yeni Gonzalez.
“She has a punctured lung and liver,” Gonzalez said. “Yesterday, she was able to talk so that’s a good sign. She’s just in a lot of pain.”
Gonzalez said her friend had been dating the deputy for about six months but the two had recently broke off their relationship.
“It came out of nowhere. He just started harassing her once the breakup happened,” Gonzalez said.
Palm Beach County court records show DeMarco filed a civil lawsuit against the woman on Sept. 27 seeking payment for personal property — a mattress and a mirror.
Records show the Sentra mattress from City Mattress valued at $1,732 and the mirror from El Dorado Furniture at $673.
According to Gonzalez, her friend moved from the Tampa area to Boynton Beach in 2014.
Colton Lehmann said he also worked with the woman and Gonzalez before leaving his job and starting his own business.
He describes her as “a sweetheart” and a single mom, always willing to help anyone who needed help.
The shooting remains under investigation.
©2017 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)