Shootout with police sends wanted man to hospital

Glynn County police were serving warrant on man wanted in Indiana

GLYNN COUNTY, Ga. – A shootout with police early Thursday sent a man wanted in Indiana to the hospital, the Glynn County Police Department said.

On Wednesday, Glynn County police were contacted by Lawrenceburg, Indiana, police about John Patrick Frohn, who threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend and her mother, who both live in Indiana, police said. Police obtained a felony arrest warrant with the plan to extradite Frohn to Indiana. 

Police said they found "credible evidence that Frohn was prepared to carry out his threats" and that Frohn had been seen at his ex-girlfriend's job.

At 2 a.m. Thursday, a Glynn County police SWAT team found Frohn at a home on Blythe Island Highway, off Old Jacksonville Highway near Blythe Island Drive. They obtained a search warrant, and as officers attempted to enter the house, Frohn began firing multiple shots at officers in the yard with an "Uzi-style semi-automatic with a high capacity magazine." Officers did not return fire at that time, police said. 

“It’s like anything else, you want the element of surprise," Glynn County Police Chief Matthew Doering said. "That’s why it was 2 o’clock in the morning, so that they don’t have time to react. There’s that moment where people freeze so that the officers have time to get in before they pose a threat.”

Police said a second team of officers entered the house and found Frohn confronting officers with his gun drawn, prompting an officer to shoot him multiple times.

Frohn was taken to Savannah Regional Hospital, where he is expected to recover.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has taken the lead in the officer-involved shooting and assault against the officers.

“We’ll charge him locally for the aggravated assault against the officers. The GBI will be handling that part of it. And then we’ll proceed from there," Doering said.