SEBRING -- Deputies in Highlands County are investigating after one of their own took his life Wednesday.
The sheriff's office says Deputy Paul Robitaille committed suicide on duty, in public. The 56-year-old was a detention deputy assigned to the county courthouse. Just before 10 a.m., Robitaille asked his supervisor for a break. Security camera video shows him walking down the sidewalk on Eucalyptus Street to a parking lot, speaking to one deputy. He was found near the northeast corner of the Sheriff's Office headquarters.
The sheriff says Robitaille gave no indication anything was wrong. He leaves behind a wife and three children, including a daughter who's a part-time deputy with the same agency. Robitaille had been with HCSO since 2007.
Last year 128 law enforcement officers took their own lives nationwide. "One is too many," Sheriff Paul Blackman said in a statement. He describes Deputy Robitaille as a "great employee with a great attitude." Blackman urges anyone having thoughts of self harm to seek help, with a friend or by calling 988, the national suicide prevention number. He says the sheriff's office has chaplains and victim advocates available and other ways to help.
Photo: Highlands County Sheriff's Office