Man holding gun to wife's head shot, killed by Cherokee County deputy

CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — A man was shot and killed by a Cherokee County sheriff’s deputy Tuesday night when he refused to put down a gun pointed at his estranged wife’s head, authorities said.

The man, identified as 45-year-old Robert Mark Frady, was dead at the scene, sheriff’s spokesman Jay Baker said.

His wife was taken to Northside Hospital Cherokee to be treated for injuries to her head.

Neighbors called 911 around 8:15 p.m. to report a domestic dispute at a mobile home on Hancock Mountain Trail in northern Cherokee.

[INTERACTIVE MAP: Shootings involving Georgia law enforcement for 2019]

When the first deputy arrived, he saw Frady holding the gun on the woman through an open door, Baker said.

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Because the mobile home was in a rural part of the county, backup was miles away.

“The deputy gave verbal commands for the male to drop the weapon but the male refused,” Baker said in a news release. “The deputy fired his weapon. The suspect was shot and pronounced dead at the scene.”

Witnesses told deputies that before they arrived, Frady beat the woman’s head with the gun. Her condition was not known Wednesday.

A neighbor told Channel 2's Kristen Holloway she was a survivor of domestic violence and that she's happy she was able to get out of the situation before things got worse.

“It’s hard to get out of, but once you get out of it, you have to get out of that domestic violence situation it’s just not good,” the neighbor said. “It doesn’t end well. This proves that.”

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was requested to investigate, which is standard protocol in officer-involved shootings, Baker said.

The shooting was the first of three police or deputy-related shootings in the metro area in 24 hours.

Cox Media Group