Anchorage police on Sunday night shot and wounded a man in Midtown who they say assaulted an elderly man and stole his truck.
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The incident began at around noon on Sunday when a man allegedly pulled a handgun on an elderly man who parked his truck near the intersection of East 22nd Avenue and Glacier Street, Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case said. The man allegedly asked for the keys to the elderly man’s truck.
“The victim did not immediately turn over the keys to his car, at which time, the suspect fired a single round and then used the firearm to strike the victim multiple times in the head and face, rendering him unconscious and inflicting significant injury to the victim,” Case said.
When the elderly man regained consciousness, he saw the man who struck him get into his vehicle and drive off, Case said. He said it didn’t appear that the two men knew each other, and that the elderly man was not struck by the round fired by the suspect.
Case added that a Subaru had initially dropped the man off, and then followed behind the stolen truck.
Officers later located the stolen truck at a residence in the 1900 Block of East 37th Avenue where the man fled to, roughly three miles from where the vehicle theft took place, Case said.
“After about approximately six hours being on scene, just before 8:00, a male suspect, the person we believed to be the suspect, exited the front door of the residence,” Case said. “He stood outside the front door for a couple of seconds, kind of surveyed what was happening out in front of him and went back inside the residence.”
The man came out a couple minutes later, Case said, and an officer ordered him to stop reaching for his handgun. The man then pointed a handgun at police, according to Case, and four officers shot at him. Paramedics brought the man to a hospital, where he’s expected to survive.
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Per Anchorage police policy, the officers who fired on the man will be placed on administrative leave and their names will be released at a later date. The shooting will be investigated by the state Office of Special Prosecutions to determine if the shooting was legally justified. Anchorage police will conduct a separate internal investigation to see if the officers followed APD policies.
The man will be charged with multiple crimes related to the theft of the truck and the police shooting, Case said.
The elderly man who owned the truck was also hospitalized from his injuries and is expected to survive, Case said.
After the shooting, Case said a SWAT team worked until about 5:30 a.m. Monday to get multiple people out of the residence. Anchorage police did not immediately provide details on any charges filed against people who were in the residence, or the status of the driver of the Subaru the suspect was in prior to the vehicle theft.
Anchorage police have shot eight people this year, matching a spike in shootings that happened two years ago. Four of the shootings were fatal. Case said all of this year’s shootings involved a suspect with a firearm.
“Whether it was fired prior to officers getting on scene, whether officers were fired upon or saw the weapon being fired, or whether the firearms are are being pointed at officers when they arrive on scene, it’s really important to understand that when someone points a gun at an officer, it significantly limits the responses that are available to the officers,” Case said.
Case said he plans to hold a second press conference with more details about the shooting next Monday, Sept. 21.
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