Alaska prosecutors to investigate police shooting of a homeless man familiar to Juneau’s downtown

Juneau residents wrote notes on a memorial for Steven Kissack, who was shot and killed by police. Flowers, stuffed malamutes and other trinkets decorated the storefront where Kissack often slept on July 17, 2024. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska state prosecutors will investigate the police shooting of Steven Kissack, a homeless man familiar to downtown residents of Alaska’s capital city, state officials said on Monday.

Steven Kissack, 35, was shot and killed after he advanced on Juneau Police Officers and an Alaska Wildlife Trooper with a filet knife on Monday afternoon. It was the ninth officer-involved shooting in Alaska this year , according to Attorney General Treg Taylor.

“The overriding principle that the Department of Law follows in the prosecution of any crime, including evaluation of potential charges against an officer and officer-involved shooting, is our duty to uphold the constitutional rights of both the victim and the alleged perpetrator. If we don’t, that puts at risk our ability to carry out justice,” he said in a news conference on Wednesday.

“If we fail to uphold the constitutional rights of an individual, we jeopardize our very ability to hold that individual accountable for any crimes that they have committed.”

The term “officer-involved shooting” is vague. Police shot Kissack; it was unclear from state communication Wednesday if officers directly shot people in the other eight cases or were less directly involved.

John Skidmore, the deputy attorney general, said Alaska is unique among the states in that it investigates every police shooting.

“There is no state law, no state statute, that requires such cases to be referred to prosecutors,” he said, adding that when he led the department’s Office of Special Prosecutions, it implemented the policy that’s still in place. The office investigates these incidents.

“Despite the fact that none are required to be referred to us, since 2009 every single officer-involved shooting in the state of Alaska has been referred to the criminal division.”

Because so many people knew him and he was so recognizable, he made real a population that is hidden for so many people.

– Karen Perkins, pastor at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Juneau

The Office of Special Prosecutions has investigated 148 officer-involved deaths since 2010, he said, and in none of the cases have state prosecutors found cause to file criminal charges against an officer for violating the law.

Alaska state statute allows use of deadly force by officers only when they believe it is necessary to make the arrest or end the escape or attempted escape from custody of someone they believe has committed a violent crime, has a firearm or poses a threat of death or serious injury.

“Now, that statute, that’s pretty broad authorization, when they’re allowed to do that. I’m not making any bones about that,” Skidmore said. “That is a broad authorization, but those are the laws in the state of Alaska, and we haven’t found anyone to violate them yet.”

Reporters asked Skidmore if the public can have confidence in the outcome of those investigations, considering they have never resulted in criminal charges.

“My response to that would be that we are fortunate in the state of Alaska that we have a law enforcement community that is more professional, is better trained, and that we have not had the problems that have existed in the Lower 48 where charges have needed to be filed,” he said.

What happened in Juneau

A video of the Juneau shooting has circulated online, fueling public concern about the incident. The video starts midway through the police interaction with Kissack and depicts his death.

According to news releases from the state’s Public Safety Department and Juneau Police Department, the Juneau police contacted Kissack on Monday to follow up on an assault that happened on Sunday. The releases say that Kissack produced a knife and refused to follow orders from the officer, so the officer requested assistance from other officers in the area. Several Juneau police officers responded, as well as a Juneau-based Alaska wildlife trooper.

The release says they negotiated with Kissack for several minutes and encouraged him to drop the knife. He did not. Juneau police officers used “less-lethal bean bag-style rounds” but Kissack refused to comply.

“Multiple law enforcement officers discharged their weapons, striking Kissack,” the release from the state’s Department of Public Safety said. “Despite lifesaving efforts by law enforcement on the scene and EMS, Kissack was declared deceased at a Juneau area hospital.”

No one else was injured in the incident, which some people recorded on their phones.

The release said Kissack’s next of kin have been notified and his body will go to the state Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage.

The Juneau police officers who discharged their weapons were placed on administrative leave and the wildlife trooper who discharged their weapon is on 72 hours of administrative leave, according to state policy.

The Office of Special Prosecutions will review an investigation by the Alaska Bureau of Investigation to decide if the use of lethal force was justified.

Kissack’s death comes less than a month after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that local governments have the authority to remove outdoor homeless encampments. Police in Juneau were not removing Kissack, but contacting him after the assault, according to the release.

Steven Kissack and Juno

For many in Juneau, Kissack was a familiar figure, often seen wearing his backpack and never without his dog, Juno.

That’s the image of him Resurrection Lutheran Church Pastor Karen Perkins says will stay with her. She knew Kissack for years through the church’s shelter and food pantry and was teaching a summer camp course when her boss handed her a note with the news that he had been shot. Her superior took over the class so Perkins could rush to the hospital.

Perkins’ voice caught when she described Kissack’s relationship with Juno, who slept beside him at the shelter and who, according to Perkins, always got the first bite of food. She described Kissack as widely read and generous.

“He was known for whatever he had, he shared it,” she said, and described bringing him extra food at his spot on Front Street. “If I had a whole cake, or something like that, I could give it to him and I knew he would share it with whoever he was hanging out with.”

Instead of demanding answers from police, Perkins said the community had let the unhoused population down. The city’s campground for people experiencing homelessness did not open this year, leaving the population dispersed. If Juneau had better support for unhoused people, there would be fewer deaths, she said.

“You knew something was going to happen,” she said, and added that the city needs to provide low barrier shelter to its unhoused residents as a long term guard against escalations like this one.

“I never in a million years would would have expected it to be Steven. He was so well liked and so easy,” she said.

She got the news of his death by text message at a Juneau Assembly meeting where Assembly members considered how the Supreme Court ruling in the Grant’s Pass case might affect the municipality. Perkins returned to the hospital to pray for Kissack, but staff refused to let her see his body, she said.

On Wednesday, community members made a memorial in the storefront where Kissack and Juno often slept. It included flowers, notes, Kissack’s picture, stuffed dog toys and a plate with bacon on it.

Across the street, a few people who knew Kissack sat under the Front Street clinic awning and watched rain hit another memorial of flowers in the middle of the street where Kissack was shot.

Resurrection Lutheran Church hosted a vigil for Kissack on Tuesday night that was attended by about 150 people, Perkins estimated. There was a collection taken for Juno, who is safe at Juneau Animal Rescue, and Perkins said the church is in talks with one of Kissack’s brothers about a memorial to come.

“He was a real person,” she said. “Because so many people knew him and he was so recognizable, he made real a population that is hidden for so many people.”

Editor’s note: This article has been updated.

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