There was a funeral service in the village of Northway on Friday for a man shot by police in Fairbanks earlier this month. 21-year-old Mathew Colton Stover of Northway died in a confrontation with FPD officers in a field next to Fairbanks Correctional Center on June 19th. Questions remain about Stover’s motivation and what happened with police.
Police say Mathew Stover fired first at officers, who went to the area after receiving a report of a masked man with a rifle in the parking lot of a nearby Denny’s restaurant. Police also reported that Stover was dressed in military style armored clothing, had an assault rifle, a 9mm pistol and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Though she lives in Kansas, Mathew Stover’s mother: Diana Stover said she kept in regular contact with her son, and that there was no indication of trouble.
”I can’t think of anything that could possibly cause him to do what the cops claim that he did,” Stover said. “He was in a good state of mind. He was always happy and making everybody laugh. I’m very shocked that this whole situation even happened.”
Mathew Stover did not have a criminal record, and Diana Stover said he was not involved in drugs, did not have any mental health issues and seemed happy before the May 19th incident
”His friend told me the day before that he was in really good spirits, laughing,” Stover said. “Nothing at all, he saw, that would’ve set him off.”
Stover said her son grew up with her in Kansas, but moved to Northway at 18 to live with his father’s side of the family, and had worked for Doyon Drilling on the North Slope for the last three years. She underscored that the June 19th incident was out of character for the boy she raised.
“So this story the police are telling us… I don’t buy it one bit at all,” Stover said. “I think there’s more to it, and we are going to request a look at surveillance cameras.”
Diana Stover suspects cameras at Fairbanks Correctional Center may have captured video of the confrontation. She said she’s heard of at least one person at FCC who witnessed the confrontation and offers a different account of what happened in the field next door: that he “did not fire on police, and that he shot in the air.”
It’s unclear if the jail somehow played into his actions. Fairbanks police spokeswoman Yumi McCullough said police have nothing additional to release about the case, but that an investigation continues.
”Detectives are talking to family and friends and anybody who knows anything about Mr. Stover and what happened early that morning,” McCullough said. “So, we’re asking for the public, if they know anything, to let us know. We are looking to talk to the gentleman or the woman who contacted the Denny’s restaurant employee, who ion turn called 911, to get some more information from that person.”
McCullough said once the police investigation is complete, the state office of special prosecution will review the case to determine if the actions of the four officer’s involved in the shooting were lawful. The officers have returned to duty.
Dan Bross is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
