MIDDLEBURG – A woman suspected of embezzling funds from Doctors Inlet Elementary was charged Wednesday with shooting at Clay County Sheriff’s Office deputies.

Tammy Jo Saucier, 51, of Middleburg, was charged with five counts of attempted second-degree murder following a standoff at the Holly Hill Cemetary on Old Jennings Road, CCSO said.

According to Sheriff Michelle Cook, Saucier was in her car near her father’s grave when she opened the door and fired one time at the deputies. At least three deputies returned fire. She had an injury to her right little finger, but it’s not known if the gunshot was self-inflicted or from a deputy.

Saucier was the bookkeeper at the school, and she was suspended after an investigation revealed funds were missing from the school. On Tuesday, Clay County District Schools Police Resource Officer Adam Rabinowitz called Saucier’s husband, Richard, after he received suicidal text messages from the woman. The husband then called the sheriff’s office.

“We received at least two separate notifications regarding an individual who may have been suffering a mental health crisis,” Cook said. “At that time, our deputies began looking for her. We entered her vehicle information into a license plate reader system and received a hit on her vehicle traveling from the Oakeaf area toward Middleburg. At that point, deputies saturated the area, and one of our sergeants actually got behind. She began to drive recklessly, including driving into oncoming traffic and running a red light after a short pursuit.”

She turned westbound onto Old Jennings and then into the cemetery. Cook said one of the responding deputies was a family friend of Saucier.

“(He) attempted for quite a while to de-escalate (the situation),” Cook said. “At some point during the conversation, she told the deputies that she had a weapon, that she had a gun, and she began drinking alcohol from inside of a vehicle what appeared to be a clear large clear bottle of alcohol.”

Deputies heard one gunshot inside the car. Then Saucier opened the car door and fired one round toward deputies from a Ruger .380 handgun. She dropped the gun but remained in the car after deputies returned fire.

She remained in the car and told a deputy she wanted a pack of cigarettes. Deputies were behind a ballistic shield when they approached with the cigarettes. When she reached for the cigarettes, deputies shot her twice in the back with two non-lethal beanbag rounds before taking her into custody.

According to the arrest report, Saucier went to HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital to treat her finger. She also had surgery to remove her spleen.

No deputies were injured, Cook said.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the State Attorney’s Office are investigating.

She is being held without bond. Her next court appearance will be on Feb. 26.