Homer police arrested a man Monday as the suspected shooter in three incidents of gunfire at two local nonprofits.
Homer Police Chief Mark Robl said officers found and arrested 30-year-old Josiah Kelly of Anchor Point after a second shooting at Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic’s administrative and education building Monday evening. The clinic had also been shot at earlier in the day.
Kachemak Bay Recovery Connection, an organization that supports people recovering from substance use disorder, also had its building shot at in late October.
“Kelly has confessed to us to all three of the shootings,” Robl said. “His motive for doing the shootings is, basically, he said he did those for religious reasons.”
Robl said they believe Kelly acted alone in the shootings. A faith-based crisis pregnancy center in Wasilla was also vandalized last week, but Robl said he doesn’t believe the cases are connected.
Claudia Haines, the family planning clinic’s CEO, told KBBI after the first shooting that someone fired eight rounds into the clinic on Monday morning.
“No one was hurt because it was before the work day began, thankfully. But it’s, it’s terrifying for staff and volunteers,” she said.
Charging documents say Haines told Homer Police after the first shooting that Kelly canceled the clinic’s trash service “due to him not agreeing with family planning.” Kelly is listed as the owner of Rubbish Removed and Recycled in Homer, according to state corporate records.
The family planning clinic provides reproductive health services across most of the Kenai Peninsula. In addition to wellness checks and pregnancy tests, the clinic also provides gender-affirming care, contraceptives and testing for sexually transmitted infections.
This isn’t the first time the organization has been targeted. The family planning clinic’s Pride flags were also vandalized last year. Haines said they were already preparing for more attention from the public.
“Reproductive healthcare is a very push button topic right now, despite its access being a universal right,” she said. “So, we were bracing ourselves for something, but we’re so deeply saddened that someone would risk hurting people in order to send this kind of message.”
Willy Dunne is the vice president of Kachemak Bay Recovery Connection’s board of directors. He said the shooting caused a lot of fear in the community, but they’re moving forward.
“This was a setback, for sure, but there’s a really healthy, vibrant recovery community here, and people not only willing, but really anxious, to help folks recover from alcohol and substance use disorders,” Dunne said. “And so we’re really excited to continue moving ahead and developing our facility and developing our programs.”
Kelly is currently being held at the Homer Jail. He was arraigned Tuesday morning at the Homer Courthouse. Kelly was charged with multiple counts of misconduct involving weapons and criminal mischief, which are both felonies. His pre-trial is set for Nov. 22 at the Kenai Courthouse.
