A standoff between a SWAT team and 69 year old veteran Robert Musser ended with Musser’s death early Friday morning after 42 hours.
Anchorage Police Department Chief Chris Tolley said that around 3 am responders discovered Musser’s body in his home. It was almost fifteen hours after an exchange of gunfire that left two officers injured.
Throughout Thursday afternoon and into the night, Tolley said there was no sign of Musser from inside his remote Hillside home. But Tolley declined to say whether he was killed by a bullet, saying the body has been sent to a state examiner to officially determine a cause of death.
Details from police suggest Musser was in a state of mental decline. In the last few months, Tolley said APD had made four welfare checks to the residence on the advice of concerned neighbors. He added, “Each time officers attempted to contact Musser he would yell through his window that he was fine, alive, and would demand our officers to leave. In one of the cases the neighbors told officers that it appeared Musser was potentially experiencing some mental health issues.”
One of the reasons the standoff lasted so long was the difficulty officers faced accessing the house. Tolley described both the yard and the residence as crowded with “many, many items.” A team eventually entered the house by using armored heavy equipment, finally locating Musser’s body.
“It is not how we wanted this response to go. It’s absolutely heart-breaking when these events result in a loss of life,” said Tolley.
Because six officers discharged their weapons the case is considered an officer-involved shooting and will be examined by the Office of Special Prosecutions, with all six currently placed on administrative leave. Tolley says the length and intensity of the event has left many in the department strained.
The standoff on the Hillside was one of just three in the municipality since Monday. One played out simultaneously for much of Thursday, finally ending in a surrender.
Zachariah Hughes reports on city & state politics, arts & culture, drugs, and military affairs in Anchorage and South Central Alaska.
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