Alaska State Troopers have identified two troopers who fatally shot an armed, wanted man in Fairbanks last week.
According to an AST dispatch, Troopers Drew Massey and Giovanni Sommers fired Friday on 20-year-old Fairbanks resident Patrick Alexander. Massey has been with AST for three years, and Sommers was hired five months ago.
Troopers said Massey and Sommers were in a vehicle patrolling near Cherokee and Ravenwood Avenues at about 2 p.m. Friday when they saw Alexander, who had multiple arrest warrants on charges including assault, terroristic threatening and weapons misconduct. When the troopers stopped to arrest him Alexander was concealing a rifle, which the troopers repeatedly ordered him to drop.
Alexander ignored those commands and instead began to manipulate the rifle, troopers said, prompting Massey and Sommers to open fire. Medics took Alexander to an area hospital, where he was declared dead; his family has been notified.
An investigation of the shooting is being conducted by troopers, which will be reviewed by the state Office of Special Prosecutions.
Dan Bross is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
