Georgia deputy Sergeant Sondron killed, another wounded when responding to dispute

PEACH COUNTY, GA  - A Peach County sheriff's deputy responding to a complaint is dead and another is in critical condition after being shot according to agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. 

According to the police report, 911 dispatchers received a call around 5:30 p.m. Sunday in reference to a dispute among neighbors on Hardison Road, just west of Byron. Two neighbors complained that another neighbor, Ralph Stanley Elrod, came out threatening them with a gun while they were riding an ATV and a motorcycle.

Two responding deputies interviewed the complaining neighbors. As they arrived at Elrod's property to get a statement, he immediately began firing at the two deputies, investigators said. Both were struck by bullets. 

One deputy was taken to Peach County Medical Center where he later died. He has been identified as Sergeant Patrick Sondron, 41. Sondron had been with the Peach County Sheriff's office for several years, authorities said.

A second deputy was taken to Navicent Health Center in Macon in critical condition. He has been identified as Daryl Smallwood. The Sheriff says Smallwood has been with the force for about a year.

The neighbors who originally made the complaint heard the gunfire and called 911 again to report that the deputies had been shot. Several other law enforcement agencies responded, and more shots were fired, authorities said.

Elrod was shot in the abdomen, investigators said, and was rushed to Navicent Health Center where he's expected to survive.

GBI agents are asking anyone with any information about the incident to call their Perry Office at 478-987-4545. 

Meanwhile, this is the fourth Georgia officer to die in the line of duty in 2016. In addition to Sondron, Major Greg Baey of the Riverdale Police Department was shot during a drug raid in February.

Investigator Anthony Freeman of the Bibb County Sheriff's Office died during a pursuit in May. Officer Tim Smith of the Eastman Police Department was shot and killed in August responding to a call of a suspicious person.