Anchorage police say a man shot and killed by an officer last week at a South Anchorage Walmart was concealing merchandise with an accomplice.
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It’s one of several new details of the June 16 incident released by Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case during a press conference Thursday.
Case said three officers, one of whom was in field training, responded to a call for service at the Walmart near Dimond Boulevard at around 10:30 p.m.
“The officers went into the business believing that they were clearly going to look for the two individuals that were concealing merchandise and found when they arrived that one of them was in fact in the loss prevention office,” Case said.
The man being held in the office, later identified as Deandrea Robertson, 33, had concealed merchandise and had an existing warrant for his arrest, Case said. The chief said he believes the amount of merchandise concealed would have qualified for a misdemeanor theft charge.
As officers began to take Robertson into custody, he ran for the loss prevention door, but another Walmart employee closed it, Case said. In a very narrow corridor in the office, Case said the officers and Robertson went to the ground as police tried to detain him.
“From this position, the subject’s able to get access to a handgun that he has on his person, concealed on his person, and fire a round that strikes Officer [Trevor] Amburn in the upper thigh, exits his thigh, and then it goes into his boot and into his ankle,” Case said. “That round actually comes to rest inside of his boot.”
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During the press conference, Case showed stills from body camera footage that showed Robertson then pointing his handgun backwards over his head. Case said Robertson shot officer Kaden Pohl in his ballistic vest. Another officer, Tae Yoon, suffered hearing damage from the shot and was temporarily blinded by the muzzle flash.
Pohl ended up shooting Robertson in response, killing him, Case said. He said all three officers were hospitalized from the incident.
“Officer Amburn’s injuries, already he was released from the hospital last Saturday,” Case said. “He spent several days in the hospital. Officer Pohl has returned to work, and Officer Yoon is still recovering from the sound loss that occurred during the incident.”
Robertson is the third person to be shot and killed by Anchorage police this year, and the fifth shot overall.
The state Office of Special Prosecutions will review the incident to see if Pohl’s use of deadly force was legally justified.
The other person who was allegedly shoplifting with Robertson was also arrested in the store, Case said. She was identified as 26-year-old Kathleen Lowe, and was taken into custody and charged with misdemeanor theft and violating conditions of release.
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