Police: One Ga. sheriff’s deputy dead, one wounded in neighbors’ dispute

One sheriff’s deputy was shot dead and another wounded after a dispute between neighbors turned violent Sunday afternoon, police in central Georgia said.

Peach County, Ga., deputies responding to the dispute were “under gunfire” when they arrived and returned fire, Georgia Bureau of Investigation special agent J.T. Ricketson told The (Macon) Telegraph.

The shooting took place around 5:30 p.m. ET near Byron, Ga., about 20 miles southwest of Macon. A suspect in the shooting was hospitalized but Ricketson did not immediately say whether the suspect was shot.

One of the deputies was taken to the Medical Center, Navicent Health in Macon and the other to the Medical Center of Peach County, according to WMAZ-TV.

Peach County Coroner Kerry Rooks, who was at the Macon hospital, told WMAZ the deputy taken there, Patrick Sondron, 41, died at about 6:40 p.m.

“He was a very good person,” Rooks said. “He was just a great deputy. He did his job well and was always willing to help.”

According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, before Sunday there were 116 deaths in the line of duty this year — 51 by gunfire.

Follow Greg Toppo on Twitter: @gtoppo