Wounded deputy resumes work with poise

Hillsborough County deputy Lyonelle De Veaux could have died on the job Sept. 30, when she was shot three times.

But her training kept her alive. And nine weeks later, she was back on the job full time.

Being shot didn't change De Veaux's charming personality or her efforts as a deputy, said her supervisor, Capt. Andy Ross.

"She's not only a hero because of how she got shot, she's a hero because of how she approaches her job," Ross said. "She's doing this for the right reasons – to protect and serve the public."

De Veaux was shot twice in the leg and once in the shoulder after being attacked while responding to a domestic dispute call outside a Town 'n Country-area apartment complex.

De Veaux doesn't see herself as a hero. "I just did what needed to be done," she said. "And to me it was something I didn't have a choice in doing. I had to do what came to mind."

De Veaux, a five-year sheriff's office veteran who works in the department's District 3, said she has physical scars but hasn't been traumatized emotionally or incapacitated physically.

"I feel wonderful," she said. "I have no pain or anything like that, nothing that I can't deal with."

De Veaux, 35, moved to Tampa when she was 3. She graduated from Plant High School and graduated from the University of Tampa with a double major in psychology and music.

Before becoming a deputy, she spent six years as a social worker for the Department of Children & Families. She's passionate about helping children and said being a former social worker sometimes gives her more empathy as a deputy; sometimes it also allows her to see the picture a little differently.

"I just like getting out there and trying to make a difference," she said.

De Veaux is good at the job, too, Ross said.

"She's an amazing woman," he said. "She's very strong and committed to doing this career. … She handled the shooting with great strength and great poise and great tact."

De Veaux said it feels great to be back to work doing what she's supposed to be doing.

"Everyone in the sheriff's office and the in the community has been so great to me," she said. "Coming back to work, I feel good. I feel like I'm at home."