Alaska State Troopers say an argument involving alleged members of rival gangs escalated to gunfire overnight Friday at a bonfire party in Big Lake, leaving three people wounded.
Ravensmoon Rupp, 20, was charged with three counts of first-degree and second-degree assault in the confrontation, as well as tampering with physical evidence. Troopers said in an online dispatch that Palmer and Wasilla police also responded to the incident.
According to a charging document against Rupp, troopers first received reports of the West Susitna Drive shooting shortly after midnight Saturday. People at the party had taken one man, who was in critical condition with gunshot wounds to his shoulders and left thigh, to a fire station. Another man and a woman were each shot at least once.
The critically wounded man told troopers that a man he believed to be Rupp shot him from the back seat of a passing Nissan Altima. He said another partygoer had told him people there were going to “rough up” Rupp for allegedly assaulting women, but he didn’t want to be involved.
Other people who were at the party told troopers that Rupp was associated with the Bloods gang and had been known to carry firearms. He and his friends reportedly had a rivalry with the critically injured victim, an alleged Crip, and his friends.
The partygoer who mentioned “roughing up” Rupp told troopers that he thought the confrontation would involve a fistfight between the two groups.
That witness said he told Rupp not to hit women as Rupp got into the Altima’s back seat. That’s when Rupp allegedly opened fire from the vehicle.
The driver of the Altima told troopers she heard shooting but didn’t know where it was coming from. She said she crashed the car soon after leaving the party, and another driver took its occupants to a Timberline Drive home.
Troopers found the crashed Altima with bullet damage in one window’s trim and a 9mm cartridge inside. They also visited Timberline Drive, where they detained Rupp and took him to the Mat-Su trooper post.
“Ravensmoon requested an attorney before an interview could be conducted with him,” troopers said.
Rupp’s bail was set at $70,000 during an initial court appearance Sunday. He remained in custody Monday at the Mat-Su Pretrial Facility.