Anchorage police say officers shot and wounded a man early Saturday as he fled from the scene of a nearby shooting with a gun in his hand.
That man, 22-year-old Kaleb Bourdukofsky, is now facing murder charges stemming from the initial shooting that left one man dead and another injured.
At a news conference Monday morning, Anchorage police chief designee Bianca Cross said the gunfire began after a fight in the Pioneer Bar on 4th Avenue.
“Indications are there was an altercation that began in a bar and was taken outside,” Cross said. “There was a physical fight between two people and then this shooting happened.”
Cross said officers near the bar received reports of shots fired at about 2:25 a.m. Saturday. Witnesses pointed the officers to Bourdukofsky, and they chased after him. Officers ordered him to stop and, when he didn’t, shot him, according to Cross.
“This man was running with a gun in his hand after an active shooting,” Cross said. “There was no time for less lethal weapons.”
Cross said officers shot Bourdukofsky several times, but she couldn’t specify where. She said officers provided first aid to him, and medics took him to a hospital. He is currently in Alaska Department of Corrections custody, Cross said.
She said officers found two men nearby who police say Bourdukofsky shot.
“During this initial investigation, officers discovered a male adult on the south side of the building with a gunshot wound and a second male adult who was deceased behind one of the bars,” Cross said.
The man killed was later identified as 25-year-old Diego Joe. The second man, who has not been identified, was taken to a hospital with what officers described as “non-life threatening” injuries.
Cross said it’s unclear if Bourdukofsky knew either victim.
A charging document filed by police against Bourdukofsky describes the fight that officers say led up to the shooting.
According to surveillance video of the area, the charges say, Bourdukofsky was escorted out of the Pioneer Bar by an “unknown person” and Joe was was among a group of men outside the back door.
“As (Bourdukofsky) crosses the threshold of the doorway, (Joe) punches him in the face,” police said in the document. “The unknown person releases (Bourdukofsky), who then turns around and punches him.”
The fight continued until both men fell to the ground, with Joe atop Bourdukofsky punching him. Bystanders then separated them, and the two of them got up. Bourdukofsky began to walk away to the north, before the video shows him returning and opening fire on the crowd near the rear door, the charges say.
During the gunfire, police said, the crowd ran. Joe was motionless.
The two police officers who later shot at Bourdukofsky have not yet been identified. APD officials say the officers’ names will be announced 72 hours after the shooting. The officers have been placed on four days of administrative leave, per police policy.
This is the second Anchorage police shooting since officers were outfitted with body-worn cameras. Last month, Anchorage police fatally shot 34-year-old Kristopher Handy after responding to reports of a domestic dispute.
Cross said the department will not release the footage of this weekend’s shooting until after an internal and state investigation, similar to the footage of the Handy shooting.
“I think we’re still working through how we need to work with body cam footage and investigations,” Cross said. “This is a learning process for us.”
Bourdukofsky is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, second-degree assault and weapons misconduct.
Wesley Early covers Anchorage life and city politics for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at wearly@alaskapublic.org and follow him on X at @wesley_early. Read more about Wesley here.
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.
