Friday afternoon in Anchorage: Shootout with police sends murder suspect to hospital

Anchorage police shot a man on Friday afternoon after being shot at. The entire incident was captured on patrol car camera and Anchorage police body cams, the tapes of which will be released after the investigation into the shooting.

Unlike the last police-involve shooting this month, Mayor Suzanne LaFrance did not quickly issue an immediate apology to the man’s family. She has, evidently, determined this shooting to be justified, while she quickly determined the last one was not, even before there was an investigation.

It was 4:24 p.m. on Friday when officers were dispatched to the 200 block of N. Post Road, where a man was said to be threatening people with a gun. The group huddled inside a nearby building for safety from the man, who was reportedly riding a bike and looking for them.

When officers arrived at the scene, they contacted the people in the building who identified the suspect, who was still outside the business.

Officers left the business to approach the man, who hopped on his bike and fled. Officers got into their patrol cars and followed him, and instructed him to stop, but he did not. Finally, when they caught up with him, they ordered him to drop his weapon. Instead, he fired at the direction of an officer and a civilian vehicle nearby. Another officer returned fire and took the man to the ground, but he sat up and shot again, in spite of multiple commands. The man was shot again by police, and this time was subdued. He was taken to a hospital with what police described as life-threatening injuries.

Later, it turned out that the man was wanted in connection with a deadly shooting at a homeless encampment on Aug. 22 at the 1000 block of E. 5th Avenue at Karluk Street. The suspected assailant left that scene on a bike, and police had set up a large search area and used a drone to try to locate the suspect, but were unsuccessful. The man who was shot was declared dead at the scene on Wednesday.

Watch Police Chief Sean Case describe the Friday incident here:

As with all officer-involved shootings, the officers are placed on four-day administrative leave and their names will be released after 72 hours. The State’s Office of Special Prosecutions will review the officers’ use of force and determine whether it was legally justified. Per city policy, once that has been completed, APD Internal Affairs will review the officers’ actions to confirm whether there was any violation of policy.

There have been 14 homicides in Anchorage and seven officer-involved shootings since May, Case said. For comparison, Seattle has had 30 homicides in all of 2024. Seattle has 749,256 residents to Anchorage’s 287,145 residents.

“Our officers are operating under extreme pressure and scrutiny,” he said. “And yet they continue to place themselves in danger and carry out the mission of keeping this community safe. The suspect from tonight’s shooting was, in fact, the suspect in yesterday’s homicide. Loss of life is always tragic. I want to express my gratitude to all of our officers for their unwavering commitment to this community.”