Update, Wednesday, July 5:
Anchorage police have named the man shot and killed on a Glenn Highway off-ramp Sunday, as well as the officer who shot him.
In subsequent statements, police said 34-year-old Sean M. Burke was fatally shot by Officer Christopher Hall. Hall has been with the department since December 2020.
Original story:
Anchorage police say an officer shot and killed a man who was holding a rifle on a Glenn Highway off-ramp early Sunday.
According to a police statement, two officers had been responding to a shots-fired call at the time of the shooting, just after 5:30 a.m. Sunday. The officers found a blue SUV pulled over on the outbound off-ramp at South Birchwood, with its rear hatch open. A man police described as a suspect was standing outside, according to the statement, with a rifle in his hands.
“The suspect advanced on the officers while holding the rifle; one officer fired his weapon, hitting the suspect at least one time in the upper body,” said the statement.
Police spokeswoman Renee Oistad said Monday that it appears the man did not fire the rifle at the officers. She said his name would likely be released later in the day.
Police said medics treated the man at the scene. Officers also recovered a handgun from him. He was taken to a local hospital, where he died soon afterward. Neither of the officers involved was injured.
Police closed the off-ramp and a northbound lane of the Glenn Highway for a few hours Sunday morning, slowing traffic as they investigated the shooting. Police at the scene examined the SUV, as well as a bag left on the off-ramp.
At a brief Sunday news conference, APD Chief Michael Kerle primarily read the police statement. He added that in-car video had recorded the shooting, and that the number of shots fired remained under investigation.
Police said it was not known whether the man was actually involved in the original report of shots fired early Sunday.
Oistad declined to answer further questions about the shooting, noting that it’s under investigation by the state Office of Special Prosecutions.
She said the video of the shooting will not be available until the completion of the state investigation, as well as an internal investigation by APD into whether the shooting violated any police policies.
Chris Klint is a web producer and breaking news reporter at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cklint@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Chris here.
