In a violent attempted home invasion last weekend, an Alakanuk man allegedly tried to shoot his daughter and infant granddaughter with a semi-automatic rifle. He was stopped in the arctic entryway by his daughter’s boyfriend, who armed himself, tackled the shooter and held him down until State Troopers arrived.
According to State Trooper William Connors’ affidavit, the incident began early Saturday morning. Leroy Patrick, age 42, loaded his semi-automatic rifle with a 20-round magazine and walked to his daughter Shari Andrew’s house, where she was asleep with her boyfriend, Greg Konst, and their 18-month-old daughter.
Andrew and Konst told State Troopers that Patrick fired a round into their home from outside. Then he walked up the steps and forced his way into their arctic entryway. He fired another round into the main doorframe.
“Open the door,” Konst remembers Patrick saying repeatedly, “or I will shoot again.”
The family hit the floor, and Konst grabbed his 12-gauge shotgun. He said that Patrick fired two more rounds into the house. Bullet fragments hit the side of Konst’s face, and he said he could feel it burning. Lying on the ground, Konst managed to load a single round and fired it through the front door. It hit Patrick below the knee, and then Konst rushed him. He said he disarmed Patrick and pinned him to the floor until the Troopers came to take him away.
Trooper Connors reported finding bullet damage inside the home. There were still 14 rounds of live ammunition in Patrick’s rifle. Connors also wrote that alcohol was involved in this incident.
Patrick was arraigned on four counts of assault in varying degrees, in addition to burglary and other charges. He has been convicted of assault four times in the past five years. The court set his bail at $150,000 and set his next court appearance for March 28th.
