The loss of Pinellas County Deputy Michael Magli affects everyone in the law enforcement community.
What You Need To Know
- Deputy Michael Magli was killed Wednesday night; He leaves behind wife, 2 children
- Sun Coast PGA plans to help family financially
- LINK: If you'd like to help, visit PBA's Facebook page
- BELOW: Twitter links as organizations across Florida, U.S. send support
- PREVIOUS: Pinellas County deputy killed in line of duty; suspect charged with murder
The Sun Coast Police Benevolent Association is working to help the family of Deputy Magli, who was killed in the line of duty on Wednesday.
PBA President Jonathan Vazquez says days like that are the hardest.
“Anytime a hero is killed in the line of duty, it affects everybody. It affects those who work directly with him. It affects those that didn’t. When anybody in the uniform is killed, it affects everybody,” Vazquez said in an interview.
Deputy Magli, 30, leaves behind a wife and two young children. He was raising his family near where he grew up in Hudson.
He’s a 2008 graduate of Hudson High School. He played football there as well.
He joined the Pinellas County Sheriff’s office in 2013 and was working in North Pinellas since 2014.
Sheriff Bob Gualtieri held back tears as he talked about the Magli’s service.
“To say it’s a tragedy is an understatement. There are no words to make any sense of it. There’s nothing you can express. The family’s life is forever changed. It will never be the same,” Gualtieri said in a press conference Wednesday night.
The Sun Coast PBA is working to give Magli’s family $50,000 in the coming days.
They will also be raising additional money by making memorial T-shirts.
“It’s a way to memorialize the fallen. There’s a saying we use in law enforcement, and in the military to never forget,” Vazquez said.
If you’d like to help out, please visit the PBA’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/suncoastpba/.
Here are Twitter links to organizations across the state and country sending out support: