An Oscarville man sought in a woman’s shooting earlier this week was found and arrested Thursday after an air and ground search, according to Alaska State Troopers.
Michael Fritz John Alex Stevens, 42, has been charged with two counts of assault and several misdemeanors in the woman’s Wednesday shooting at his home, according to an online trooper dispatch. He allegedly fled the scene on a snowmachine.
Troopers from Bethel responded to a 911 call Wednesday night about the shooting in Oscarville, about five miles south of Bethel on the Kuskokwim River, but could not locate Stevens.
According to troopers, family members took the wounded woman to a Bethel-area hospital. She is expected to survive her injuries.
Troopers requested public assistance in locating Stevens. Spokesperson Austin McDaniel said that they put out the call for assistance to alert nearby communities – Oscarville, Napaskiak, Napakiak and Bethel – of the potential danger and of trooper response.
“Troopers did receive some tips from different members of the community of Oscarville,” McDaniel said. “There were some sightings of him earlier this morning, so Thursday morning, in Oscarville. And between the Alaska Wildlife Troopers in the air, state troopers on the ground, as well as some other Good Samaritans, community members on the ground in Oscarville, they were able to locate Michael Stevens – his snowmachine had become stuck in the tundra. And troopers were able to arrest him and detain him at that point.”
Stevens was found on the tundra at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, McDaniel said.
Troopers said that Stevens is being held at the Yukon Kuskokwim Correctional Center on multiple charges, including first and third-degree assault, weapon misconduct, and reckless endangerment. As of Thursday afternoon, Stevens had not been scheduled for arraignment.
