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Byron, GA – The Macon District Attorney has released dashcam and cell phone footage of the events leading up to the moment a Navy veteran murdered two Peach County sheriff’s deputies in 2016 (video below).
Ralph Stanley “Robin” Elrod, 59, pleaded guilty on Sep. 6 to the unprovoked, inexplicable shooting deaths of Deputy Daryl Smallwood, 37, and Deputy Patrick Sondron, 41, The Telegraph reported.
In exchange for his plea, District Attorney David Cooke agreed not to seek the death penalty.
Elrod received two life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus 100 years.
The incident occurred on Nov. 6, 2016, when Elrod became enraged with his neighbors for repeatedly driving their dirt bikes and ATV’s past his home and on sections of his lawn, The Telegraph reported.
Kelvin Ross was riding a four-wheeler while recording another male who was popping wheelies as they traveled down the road, a cell phone video of the antics showed.
As the men reached the end of Elrod’s driveway, he intercepted them, armed with his shotgun, The Telegraph reported.
“You can’t run this G-ddamned s–t up and down [in front of] my house,” Elrod said. “I’m gonna kill your mother–king -ss!”
“Are you,” Ross replied in a surprised tone, “Alright, my fault, man.”
“You understand me?” Elrod asked.
“Yes, sir,” Ross said.
“I am f–king tired of your G-ddamned bulls—t,” Elrod reiterated. “Go on.”
Ross reported the incident to the sheriff’s office, who arrived at his residence to view the cell phone video, The Telegraph reported.
Deputy Smallwood and Deputy Sondron then traveled to Elrod’s home.
Dashcam footage showed the deputies as they pulled up to the residence in separate patrol vehicles.
Elrod immediately walked across his yard to speak with them.
“Howdy,” Deputy Sondron greeted him. “Tell me what’s going on with your neighbors.”
Elrod told him that he had made “multiple complaints” about his neighbors driving their ATVs and dirt bikes up and down the road, The Telegraph reported.
“Ain’t nobody doing nothing about it,” he told Deputy Sondron.
He initially denied having taken a firearm with him when he intercepted the men at the end of his driveway.
“Just so you know … they had a video going. OK? And they got everything that you said to them, and a picture of you with a gun in your hand,” Deputy Sondron explained, according to The Telegraph.
“Yeah, I had my squirrel gun in my hand,” Elrod admitted.
“This is the first complaint I’ve heard about it,” Deputy Sondron told him. “The problem is, that you took…what you felt was your authority out in the road, and then you told that man…that you gonna kill him.”
“Nah,” Elrod said, before alleging that his neighbor was running a business and not paying taxes.
“For the last 10 months, it ain’t been nothing but f–king pure hell in this neighborhood because of him,” Elrod continued.
“Where’s you’re gun at?” Deputy Sondron asked.
“What difference does that make?” Elrod countered.
“I need to see it,” the deputy said.
“No, you don’t,” Elrod responded calmly.
“Well, at this point, just so you know, you’re under arrest,” Deputy Sondron told him.
“No, I’m not,” Elrod said flatly, as he reached for a handgun hidden on the right side of his waistband, the video showed.
Elrod then raised his Glock pistol and fired it at the deputy’s head and upper body at point-blank range, The Telegraph reported.
Deputy Sondron struggled to retain his grip on Elrod’s left arm, but the gunman opened fire with his right hand, killing him.
Without warning, Elrod turned his attention to Deputy Smallwood, and shot him.
Deputy Smallwood fired at Elrod one time, but did not hit him.
“His manner and method were so practiced that neither deputy had a moment to defend themselves,” Cooke said during the Sep. 6 court hearing.
Elrod left the motionless deputies lying on his driveway, then went into his home, where he placed a call to his son, Jones County Deputy Jarrod Elrod.
“Hey, Jarrod, this is my last day on this planet,” he said in a voicemail to Deputy Elrod, according to The Telegraph. “I’ve just killed two police officers from Peach County. I’m sorry, son. But, uh, this is probably it for me. Love you. Bye.”
He then changed into jeans, a ballistic vest, and tactical gear, grabbed his 12-guage shotgun and AR-15, and headed back outside, The Telegraph reported.
Elrod took cover behind the hood of one of the patrol vehicles, and opened fire on the officers who raced to the scene, the video showed.
Byron Police Officer Wesley Griffis, who was off-camera, fired a round at Elrod as he was raising his rifle, hitting the gunman in the abdomen, The Telegraph reported.
Elrod unleashed a barrage of bullets on the officers and reloaded his weapon twice before he surrendered.
“Just kill me. I don’t want to go to jail,” he repeatedly told the officers as he waited to be transported to the hospital, Cooke said.
No other officers were hit during the shootout, The Telegraph reported.
You can watch cell phone and dashcam footage of the deputies’ encounter with Elrod in the video below: