Anchorage police officers shot and wounded a man Friday afternoon, saying he was the suspect in a deadly shooting reported the previous day.
In a brief statement Friday evening, police said the man was shot and wounded on the 200 block of North Post Road. He was taken to a hospital with what police believe are life-threatening injuries.
Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case said in a news conference Friday evening that dispatchers were called shortly before 4:30 p.m. Friday by three people who reported that an armed man on a bicycle was looking for them. As police responded to the call, they received information linking the man to Thursday’s fatal shooting of a man near a 5th Avenue homeless camp.
When police arrived, people at the scene identified a male cyclist riding away as the suspect. Case said the man did not respond to commands, and officers got into their vehicles to chase him.
When they caught up, Case said, one of the officers got out of a police vehicle and ordered the man to stop, issuing commands for a “significant” amount of time.
“The suspect then turned and fired one single round in the direction of the officer and a civilian vehicle,” Case said. “The officer that was providing commands then fired several rounds; the suspect then went down to the ground. The suspect then sat up and fired at least two additional rounds at the officer and the civilian vehicle again, which caused the original officer that fired rounds to return fire again.”
Case said no officers were injured in the shooting. The man was taken to a local hospital with what police believe are life-threatening injuries.
The shooting was recorded on officers’ body-worn cameras, according to Case. Footage of the shooting will be released in 45 days, under current APD policy.
Case congratulated officers for their vigilance under difficult circumstances, confirming that the man shot Friday was the suspect in both incidents.
“The suspect in tonight’s shooting was indeed the suspect in yesterday’s homicide,” Case said.
This is the seventh shooting by Anchorage police since mid-May. Four of those shootings have been fatal.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Chris Klint is a web producer and breaking news reporter at Alaska Public Media. Reach him atcklint@alaskapublic.org.Read more about Chrishere.
