Joseph Brandon Gerdvil (Orange County Sheriff’s Department).
Raw body camera footage obtained by Law&Crime shows the moment a sheriff’s deputy shot a man who had allegedly decapitated his own parents, Ronald Gerdvil, 77, and Antoinette Gerdvil, 79.
“Get on the ground right now!” the official said, gun drawn, repeating his demands at the suspect, Joseph Brandon Gerdvil, 42. As seen on video, Gerdvil walked off the sidewalk and onto the middle of the street at the deputy. He made no indication of stopping as the deputy opened fire.
And yet even after being shot, he asked officials to kill him, and he sang Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do with It” and Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You.”
Warning: The video is disturbing.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department in California said that a cousin of Gerdvil called 911 on July 9, 2024, and described receiving pictures of “elderly relatives” appearing to be “severely injured.”
The family member said that Gerdvil had mental health issues and had been violent in the past, authorities said.
Gerdvil, the dispatcher could be heard saying, was also spotted covered in blood, chasing after a maintenance worker with a fork, and driving in a golf cart near condos.
Around 20 minutes later, the body camera video showed, a deputy encountered Gerdvil in the street. The official immediately stopped his patrol vehicle and demanded at gunpoint that Gerdvil get on the ground. The suspect, an object in his hands, did not stop and instead walked in an apparently determined fashion at the official.
The gunshots are audible. Gerdvil falls to the ground. The deputy who shot him demanded that he get on his stomach. Gerdvil did. Responding deputies gave medical attention.
“I love you,” Gerdvil said as officials handcuffed his hands behind his back, but later told authorities to “finish me off.”
As the video continued, he began to sing the aforementioned songs.
“I just called to say I love you,” he belted out while on his side, bleeding.
Authorities accuse him of having cut off Ronald and Antoinette Gerdvil’s heads, leaving one head on a counter, mutilating their dog, and leaving the scene in a golf cart.
Online records show that he pleaded not guilty to charges of murder. A pretrial hearing is set for Tuesday. He is currently locked up in the Central Men’s Jail.
