Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Authorities say motive in deputy killings may never be known
TRENTON, Fla. — Investigators in Florida say they may never know why a man — a recluse from a rural farm community — killed two sheriff’s deputies Thursday while they sat in a Chinese restaurant.
John Hubert Highnote, 58, of Bell, Fla., casually walked into the restaurant, went up to the Gilchrest County deputies and fired at them.
He then went into his car and killed himself.
“It’s inexplicable,” State Attorney Bill Cervone said. “People will want to know why, and we may never have an answer for them.”
Highnote came from a small town just up the road from the Ace China restaurant in Trenton, 35 miles west of Gainesville. He lived alone in a small, brick house off a dirt road shaded under a canopy of trees.
A neighbor who has lived across the street for five years said Highnote never once introduced himself, and he was rarely seen in town.
She characterized him as a recluse.
Gilchrest County Sheriff Bobby Schultz blamed the deaths of Sgt. Noel Ramirez, 30, and Deputy Taylor Lindsey, 25, on hatred toward law enforcement.
“The only thing these men were guilty of is wanting to protect you and me. They just wanted to get something to eat, and they just wanted to do their job,” he said at a news conference.
President Donald Trump called the slain deputies “HEROES” in a tweet sharing his condolences with their friends, families and colleagues.
Court records show Highnote had one traffic ticket from 2012, but no other criminal or civil court record.
Schultz said state law enforcement officials are investigating, and an investigator from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was at Highnote’s house on Friday.