PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Two Florida deputies were killed and another was seriously injured in what the Palm Beach County sheriff called a "horrific accident" Thursday.
The three crash victims were veteran Palm Beach County deputies. According to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, the deputies were monitoring traffic along Southern Boulevard near Loxahatchee on their motorcycles, clocking drivers heading eastbound.
At one point, Bradshaw said one of the deputies called the other two over after he could not get his motorcycle started. The three ended up on the righthand shoulder of the road while awaiting another member from the sheriff's office brining them jumper cables.
While they waited, a woman was approaching the deputies' area, traveling in the middle lane.
Bradshaw said in an attempt to pass a vehicle in front of her, she "veered right," but "overcompensated" and ended up in the shoulder of the road, striking all three deputies with her car.
Bradshaw called it a "horrific accident."
Aerial footage from the crash shows three badly damaged motorcycles on the road next to a damaged SUV.
All three deputies were transported to St. Mary's Medical Center. Two of them died. The third was given surgery then transported to ICU. Bradshaw said he's in critical, but stable, condition. The woman who crashed into the deputies has very minor injuries, the sheriff added.
"Law enforcement, public safety and the military are the only professions where when you leave the house and kiss your family goodbye, that may be the last time," Bradshaw said.
The sheriff said he's received phone calls from US senators, congressmen, other sheriffs and members of the community offering their condolences.
"When you lose a law enforcement officer, you lose a piece of the community," he said.