An Anchorage man was arrested Sunday night after police say he fired a gun, wounding himself and an officer trying to detain him, then bit another officer.
Officers were responding to a domestic disturbance on the 9600 block of Independence Drive shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday when the struggle took place, according to a police statement.
Police spokesperson Sunny Guerin said Christopher James Nickalaskey, 32, was in a dispute with another adult before officers arrived. She said when officers confronted him, he immediately became combative.
Police say he reached for a gun in his waistband and pulled the trigger.
“The round struck Nickalaskey in the lower body and also (struck) an officer in the lower body,” said the police statement. “(Nickalaskey) continued to fight and bit another officer on the hand.”
Officers secured the gun, restraining Nickalaskey and placing him under arrest. The two wounded officers were treated at a local hospital for minor injuries.
Guerin declined to name the officers injured in the encounter.
Nickalaskey was initially taken to a hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound that police said was not life-threatening. He was then held at the Anchorage Correctional Complex on seven counts of assault, plus two counts of weapons misconduct. He was still in custody Monday afternoon.
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.
