Update 8 a.m. Monday, Dec. 28: Alaska State Troopers identified the two officers who fired at Joseph Frantz on Christmas as Trooper Caleb Lloyd and Wasilla police officer Nate Lecours.
Lloyd has been with the Troopers for three years and Lecours has been with the Wasilla Police Department for three years, but has a total of five years of experience in law enforcement, troopers wrote in an updated statement.
Lecours fatally shot 26-year-old Gage Southard in January of 2020 after responding to a domestic disturbance call. Troopers said Southard brandished a gun before he was shot.
Original story:
A Palmer man began firing at officers and was hospitalized after state troopers and local police shot him early Friday morning, according to an online report from Alaska State Troopers.
Authorities responded to a call made by a woman who said her boyfriend, Joseph Frantz, was going to kill her, troopers wrote. The woman couldn’t keep speaking with a dispatcher, but stayed on the line. According to the report, Frantz was heard saying he was going to kill the woman on the phone and a gunshot was heard.
Troopers arrived at the residence and ushered the woman to safety as Frantz opened fire at authorities, troopers wrote.
One state trooper and a Wasilla Police Department officer returned fire, injuring Frantz, who was taken into custody and transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No officers were injured during the incident, according to the report.
Court services officers are guarding 35-year-old Frantz while he is hospitalized, and after release he will be remanded at the Mat-Su Pretrial Facility on four counts of first-degree attempted murder, three pertaining to law enforcement and one related to domestic violence, according to troopers.
Troopers say additional charges will be filed because an investigation showed that Frantz also fired at the neighbor’s house before law enforcement arrived Friday morning.