Alaska State Troopers are investigating the stabbing of a St. Michael teenager by another teen from Stebbins.
Nome troopers were notified of the stabbing — which occurred in Stebbins — just before 2 a.m. on Tuesday. They arrested 18-year-old Rylan Snowball on the pending charge of first-degree assault.
“It’s not a whodunit case,” said Megan Peters, a troopers spokesperson. “We know who all the players are. However, people aren’t being very cooperative with us. So we have to work a little bit harder to put the case together so it moves forward. The victim essentially doesn’t want to be a victim.”
Peters could not say whether the 19-year-old male victim was a friend or relative of Snowball’s, but she did say he was treated for multiple stab wounds by health aides at the Stebbins clinic.
“Fortunately, the wounds were not life-threatening,” she said. “I don’t want to necessarily say they were superficial, but they didn’t significantly damage him in any way where his life was in jeopardy. He was treated within the community and released.”
Although the victim hasn’t cooperated, Peters said the investigation is still ongoing as troopers interview other people and collect evidence to build a case against Snowball. She also said troopers have determined that alcohol was a factor in the incident.
Snowball is currently being held at the Anvil Mountain Correctional Center in Nome and awaiting arraignment.
Laura Kraegel covers Unalaska and the Aleutian Islands for KUCB . Originally from Chicago, she first came to Alaska to work at KNOM, reporting on Nome and the Bering Strait Region. (laura@kucb.org / 907.581.6700)
