Fairbanks is mourning the loss of a police officer. Thirty four year old Sergeant Allen Brandt, who was shot earlier this month, died Friday of complications following surgery to remove shrapnel from one of his eyes. Community members gathered for a candlelight vigil Friday night to honor and remember the 11 year FPD veteran.
Hundreds of people held candles as acting police chief Brad Johnson, visibly shaken by the unexpected death of Sergeant Brandt, addressed the gathering.
“I want you to know that all of us here feel your love,” Johnson said. “We love you too, and we’ll pass your love on to Allen’s family.”
Sergeant Brandt, by all accounts, seemed to be on his way to recovering from multiple gun shot wounds, and his death Friday shocked the city. Mayor Jim Matherly recounted how earlier in the week Sergeant Brandt had walked into city hall and addressed the council members.
”He spoke to us about being united, about what it was like to be a police officer,” Matherly said. “But this man was so selfless he actually said other cops have done more than he has done. He was the one who suffered this horrific event, yet he was thinking of his fellow officers.”
Mayor Matherly closed by asking the public to keep Sargent Brandt’s wife and four children in their thoughts and prayers.
According to the Fairbanks Police Department, Sergeant Brandt was shot when he responded to a report of gunfire on a downtown street after midnight, on October 16th. 29 year old Anthony Jenkins Alexie of Anchorage, has been charged with multiple felonies, including attempted murder — a charge that Fairbanks prosecutors said may be amended, now that Officer Brandt has died.
Sergeant Brandt is the second FPD officer to be killed in the line of duty in recent history. Officer Kevin Lamb was shot and killed in 1998.
Services for Sergeant Brandt are still being planned.
Dan Bross is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
