Michael Fultz

Introduction

Michael Fultz is a former deputy with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office in Florida who resigned in August 2026 as the agency was preparing to fire him over what internal records described as “egregious misconduct.” Only about two years earlier, he had been one of the office’s most celebrated young deputies: he was named the agency’s 2025 Deputy of the Year and received a medal after a fatal on-duty shooting. The collapse of his career came after his ex-girlfriend contacted the sheriff’s office with numerous allegations, triggering an internal investigation that examined everything from his use of the agency’s license plate reader system to photographs investigators obtained showing him placing a gun in his ex-girlfriend’s mouth during intimate encounters. The episode, documented in records obtained by News 6 (WKMG), became a national story . Notably, the matter was handled administratively, and no criminal charges against Fultz were reported in the coverage.

Background Information

Fultz was 24 years old at the time the records became public. According to a sheriff’s office spokesperson cited in reporting, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office hired him as a probationary deputy in September 2024 .

Seven months into his tenure, in April 2025, Fultz fatally shot a suicidal man who charged at him with a knife as the deputy responded to a disturbance at the man’s home, according to the agency. The shooting was reported at the time, and Sheriff Wayne Ivey subsequently honored Fultz as the 2025 Deputy of the Year, awarding him a medal for his response to that incident.

In a twist central to the story, his ex-girlfriend contacted the sheriff’s office in March with numerous allegations against him — on the very same day he received the Deputy of the Year recognition. In a written message quoted by News 6, she said her intention was “not to pursue personal retaliation but to ensure the agency is aware of conduct that, in my understanding, may conflict with departmental policies or professional standards” .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

The allegations against Fultz, as described in internal records obtained by News 6, centered on his personal conduct and his use of law enforcement tools.

The first major thread involved the agency’s Flock Safety license plate reader system. During the investigation, the sheriff’s office audited the system and found that Fultz had searched for his ex-girlfriend’s license plate once, before the beginning of one of his shifts, and logged the search as an “investigation” . According to investigators, Fultz denied that he ran the search out of revenge, but he was unable to explain why he had looked up her plate.

A second thread involved images investigators obtained showing Fultz placing a firearm in his ex-girlfriend’s mouth and pointing it at the back of her head during consensual sex acts. The woman told investigators the acts themselves were consensual, but that she later came to find them alarming and inappropriate for a serving deputy. Fultz said the firearm was personally owned; investigators noted it resembled an agency-issued handgun he had been given after the April 2025 shooting.

Additional allegations documented in the records included an inappropriate FaceTime call made from his patrol car while he was on duty and in uniform — his ex-girlfriend claimed he was masturbating during the call, though investigators said screenshots from the alleged incident were not clear enough to confirm that detail. Records also referenced a photograph captured shortly before he was hired that appeared to show Fultz performing a Nazi salute, and accusations that he used racially insensitive language .

In May, Sheriff Wayne Ivey signed off on an internal investigation and expressed his intent to terminate Fultz. Rather than be fired, Fultz resigned.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The story drew significant attention because of its layers of irony: a deputy honored as the best in his agency for a fatal shooting was undone by an investigation prompted by the person closest to him. News 6’s investigators report was amplified by national syndication, bringing the case to audiences far beyond Brevard County.

Fultz responded with a public apology. “First and foremost, I want to apologize to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, the men and women I served alongside, my family, and the citizens of Brevard County for the embarrassment and negative attention my actions have caused,” he wrote in a statement to News 6. He added that becoming a deputy had been a dream and that he would “always be grateful” to Sheriff Ivey and the agency for the opportunity .

It is important to note the boundaries of what the records establish: the allegations came largely from his ex-girlfriend and internal investigators’ review, the gun-in-mouth images involved intimate acts she described as consensual at the time, and no criminal charges were noted in the reporting. The case was handled as an internal administrative matter, culminating in his resignation rather than prosecution.

Current Status

As of the most recent reporting, Fultz is no longer employed by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, having resigned in August 2026 while termination proceedings were underway. He has not been reported as facing criminal charges, and the sheriff’s office has not announced any referral of the matter for prosecution in the available coverage. There is no public indication that he has taken another role in law enforcement.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The resignation ended a law enforcement career that lasted less than two years and that had, until shortly before its end, appeared to be on a celebrated trajectory — from probationary hire to medal recipient and Deputy of the Year in roughly a year. The records obtained by News 6 attached serious findings and allegations to his name permanently, particularly regarding the misuse of surveillance tools entrusted to officers and the images involving a firearm and his then-partner. His public apology acknowledged the embarrassment his actions caused, but his brief career now records a resignation under threat of termination rather than the honors that once defined it. For the sheriff’s office, the case became a public example of how internal investigations — prompted in this instance by a private citizen’s complaint — can end the careers of even highly decorated officers.