Anchorage police say an officer fired on a wanted man Wednesday afternoon at a Midtown hotel before he jumped out of a window.
Police named the suspect Thursday morning as 36-year-old Ryan A. Hunt, saying he is in custody on the felony warrant for which he had been sought. No officers were hurt in the incident.
“The investigation into Wednesday’s events is ongoing; additional charges are expected,” police said Thursday.
Anchorage Police Chief Michael Kerle said at a news conference Wednesday evening that police were informed at about 1:30 p.m. that Hunt was staying at the Hilton Garden Inn. Officers responded to the inn off Tudor Road just east of C Street and set up a perimeter around it, also taking position in the hallway outside Hunt’s second-floor room.
A police negotiator called Hunt, but he disconnected the call and opened the room’s front door, Kerle said.
“(Hunt) entered the threshold of the room with an object in his hand in what appeared to be a shooting stance,” Kerle said. “One of the officers that were in the hallway fired his weapon at least one time.”
At that point, Kerle said, Hunt retreated into the room and jumped through a window but was detained outside. Medics took him to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries to his upper body, police said.
Kerle said it wasn’t initially clear whether Hunt was struck by the officer’s gunfire, sustained injuries from the jump or both. Police also found a woman in the room with facial injuries, which she told officers the suspect had caused, police said.
None of the officers at the scene were wearing body cameras, Kerle said. About 58 officers – roughly a quarter of the department’s patrol force – have been equipped with them since their rollout began last month, Kerle said.
Police spokeswoman Renee Oistad declined to answer further questions about the incident Thursday morning, citing the ongoing investigation.
The incident is under investigation by police as an officer-involved shooting, with the officer who fired on four days of administrative leave before being publicly identified.
The state Office of Special Prosecutions will examine the incident, before officers with the department’s Internal Affairs Unit conduct a review.
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.
