“The criminal investigation will ultimately determine some facts, but there will never be a reason for what he did,” the sheriff wrote on Facebook Friday afternoon.

Sheriff Schultz identified the victims as Sgt. Noel Ramirez, 29, and Deputy Taylor Lindsey, 25. Sergeant Ramirez, who joined the department in 2016, was married with two young children, and Deputy Lindsey was unmarried but had a girlfriend.

“I made contact with the families, and as you’d expect, you can never be prepared for something like this,” Sheriff Schultz said. “But make no mistake, they’re proud of their families. They understood when their loved ones pinned on the badge and they strapped on the gun that this was a possibility.”

Trenton, the seat of rural Gilchrist County, is a small town of around 2,000 residents, but the killing of the deputies drew the attention and condolences of national officials. Sheriff Schultz said his department’s small size, with just 27 deputies, made their deaths especially painful.

“The senseless act committed by this coward has shaken each of us, but we will endure,” the sheriff wrote on Facebook on Friday morning.