GA - Sgt. Patrick Sondron & Dep. Daryl Smallwood, fatally shot, Byron, 6 Nov 2016

[drjones]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/11/07/georgia-police-officer-killed-another-wounded-in-shooting.html

[FONT=&quot]A Georgia police officer was shot and killed and another was wounded on Sunday, authorities said.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Peach County Coroner Kerry Rooks said Peach County Officer Patrick Sondron was pronounced dead at 6:40 p.m. at Peach County Medical Center.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Peach County deputies responded to a report of a dispute among neighbors in Byron. As authorities arrived to the scene, someone opened fired on officers as they pulled up. Byron police officers also responded and returned fire.[/FONT]

 

[drjones]

Suspect Ralph Stanley Elrod (was shot and is in custody).

 

[bluesneakers]

Again? Already? Isn't this like three shootings in less than a week??!

<mod snip>

RIP Officer Patrick Sondron.
:rose:

 

[CARIIS]

Do they think it was ambush or was there a real event going where police were shot cause they were their responding to a valid call?

 

[ninij9]

RIP officer Patrick Sondron. Thank you for your service. Sincere condolences to his loved ones.,&#128546;

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[glf]

According to the news article, this guy threatened his neighbors with a gun and they called police. Then, when LE got out of their CSR, the gunman started shooting at them.

 

[CARIIS]

Suspected gunman in slaying, shooting of deputies is father of young cop

Authorities have said the officers had gone there to see about a neighborhood dispute, something possibly to do with people riding a motorbike and a four-wheeler along the road.
Read more here: http://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article113145298.html#storylink=cpy






Read more here: http://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article113145298.html#storylink=cpy

Elrod, a licensed electrical contractor, had a thin blue line sticker on his mailbox post, a sign typically symbolic of appreciation for law enforcement.

His son is a sheriff&#8217;s deputy in Jones County, 25 miles away. A law enforcement source told The Telegraph on Monday that the son, apparently from a previous marriage, was on duty Sunday evening when the Peach deputies were shot.

The neighbor said the area there on the outskirts of Byron is the kind of place where folks tend keep to themselves. Houses aren&#8217;t right on top of one another. There&#8217;s room to spread out.

Neighbor called 911 2x.

Peach Sheriff Terry Deese told The Telegraph Monday afternoon that he hadn&#8217;t been familiar with Elrod, but that his deputies had in the past had dealings with him about complaints Elrod made about neighbors riding four-wheelers.

oNE OF THE cops had a sheild.

http://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article113145298.html

oNE OF THE
Read more here: http://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article113145298.html#storylink=cpy




Records show that he was divorced in 1993 and that he re-married in 1996. His wife in the second marriage, according to court records in Macon, filed for divorce the next year but the matter was later dismissed.
Read more here: http://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article113145298.html#storylink=cpy
Read more here: http://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article113145298.html#storylink=cpy




GBI agent: "We've gathered more than fifty rounds from the rifle."
Read more here:http://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article113145298.html#storylink=cpy

The neighbor said the area there on the outskirts of Byron is the kind of place where folks tend keep to themselves. Houses aren&#8217;t right on top of one another. There&#8217;s room to spread out.
Read more here: http://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article113145298.html#storylink=cpy
Read more here: http://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article113145298.html#storylink=cpy

His son is a sheriff&#8217;s deputy in Jones County, 25 miles away. A law enforcement source told The Telegraph on Monday that the son, apparently from a previous marriage, was on duty Sunday evening when the Peach deputies were shot.
Read more here: http://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article113145298.html#storylink=cpy
Read more here: http://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article113145298.html#storylink=cpy

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Do they think it was ambush or was there a real event going where police were shot cause they were their responding to a valid call?

It sounds like an ambush to me since they had just gotten out of their vehicles when he opened fire.

This happened in my state and we have had other police officers shot this year who were also ambushed. One of the shooters pretended he needed LE assistance when he called 911. Instead he was there waiting to shoot them when they showed up to assist him. Officer Randal Hancock was shot ten times but miraculously lived even though the shooter tried his best to murder him.

Police officers who have been murdered in the line of duty are up 300% from this same time last year.

My heart and prayers go out to all of the fallen heroes who's lives have been taken senselessly.

I am praying for a miracle to happen to the other officer who is clinging to life and is on life support.

IMO

 

[Tawny]

"Ambush" implies he planned to attack officers and that was his motivation the whole time. It appears it was a dispute between him and his neighbor and he attacked the first people who tried to stop him. Is there anything indicating otherwise?

ETA: RIP Officer Sondron, condolences to his family :no:

 

[drjones]

Yeah, it doesn't sound like an "ambush" as it is used often - where the initial call to police is fake/staged etc just to get them to the scene.

But I think it also could still be described as an ambush as it sounds like he opened fire on police as they exited their cars before any confrontation or even contact had been made.

 

[0101ABA]

Peach County deputy Daryl Smallwood, who was shot in the line of duty, died late Tuesday afternoon.

Smallwood and Sgt. Patrick Sondron were fatally wounded while responding to a call near Byron Sunday night.

http://www.macon.com/news/local/community/houston-peach/article113358343.html

 

[glf]

So terribly sad to hear about the second officer dying. Too bad it wasn't the shooter! Wonder if he had been drinking or something. Alcohol can definitely have a negative effect on people's emotions and actions.

 

[0101ABA]

District attorney says he will seek death penalty against Elrod, accused deputy killer

The Byron man charged with murder in the Nov. 6 fatal shooting of two Peach County deputies could face the death penalty if he’s convicted, District Attorney David Cooke announced Thursday.

Peach County grand jurors indicted Ralph Stanley Elrod Jr. this week in the fatal shooting of deputy Daryl Smallwood and Sgt. Patrick Sondron.

 

[0101ABA]

Ralph Stanley Elrod has first hearing in death penalty case

Tuesday was 57-year-old Ralph Stanley Elrod Junior's first hearing since the district attorney, David Cooke, filed notice to seek the death penalty. (...)

WMAZ spoke to district attorney, David Cooke, over the phone and he says the defense team filed a total of 15 motions. One of those challenges the way the grand jury is selected. Cooke explained that this is a common motion in a death penalty case.

(...)


He says Elrod's motion hearing and arraignment will be on May 22nd. Cooke says the defendant will enter a plea of guilty or not guilty that day. He also says based on the hearing Tuesday he suspects Elrod will plead not guilty.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Trial date set for man charged in midstate deputies’ deaths

http://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article159884594.html

Ralph Stanley Elrod Jr. formally entered his plea of not guilty Thursday during a hearing in Peach County Superior Court.

The judge set the trial for Feb. 12, 2018. If convicted, Elrod could face the death penalty.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Flawed grand jury indicted man charged in deputies’ shooting deaths, attorney argues

http://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article171825272.html

A lawyer representing the man charged with fatally shooting two Peach County deputies challenged the composition of the grand jury that indicted him during a hearing Thursday.

The judge likely won’t rule on the challenge until sometime next month.

Challenges such as the one argued by Elrod’s lawyers are common.

“Filing a challenge to the array of the grand and traverse juries is fairly routine,” said Fred Bright, a former district attorney who has prosecuted more than a dozen death penalty trials. “It happens in nearly every death penalty case.”

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local/defense-attorney-ralph-elrod-willing-to-take-plea-deal/515346649

The man accused of killing two Peach County deputies is willing to take a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. Defense attorney Frank Hogue stated in court that Ralph Stanley Elrod is willing to plead guilty to life without the possibility of parole.

Court will resume on February 27th.

http://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article198645869.html

Though it is more than a year from going to trial, the death penalty case against a Peach County electrician accused of gunning down a pair of sheriff’s deputies there took an interesting and unusual turn this week.

The alleged killer’s defense team raised questions — be they valid in this case or not — about violent crime, race and how it is that prosecutors deem it necessary to seek the ultimate punishment for murderers in some cases and not in others.