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Man shot father during South Anchorage dispute over Christmas gifts, charges say

an anchorage police car is parked in a parking lot
An Anchorage Police patrol vehicle. (Hannah Lies/Alaska Public Media)

Police say a 19-year-old man shot and severely wounded his father at a South Anchorage home Friday night.

Court records show Austin Jensen is charged with first-degree assault in the encounter, which occurred on the 9500 block of Brayton Drive near the Independence Park neighborhood.

According to a charging document, Jensen’s stepmother told police that he had been eating poorly and lost weight in recent days, refusing to talk to her or his father.

She said he refused to leave his bedroom to open his gifts on Christmas Day or the day after. Jensen allegedly only left to shower and eat, before he and his father both went to work Friday.

On Friday night, the stepmother told police she was in the living room with her 1-year-old son when Jensen’s father knocked on his bedroom door and asked him to talk.

“(He) was saying if Austin didn’t like the presents or he didn’t want them, then he would return them because it was better than them just sitting there,” prosecutors wrote. “Austin did not say anything back.”

Soon afterward, she told police, Austin’s father asked if he should kick the door. Austin then allegedly said, “You’re just threatening me.” After the father again asked Austin to open the door, she said she heard “the bang of the door being opened and then two gunshots.”

“(She) ran to the door and saw (the father’s) head half way out the door and his body still inside Austin’s room,” prosecutors wrote. “Austin was standing next to his bed, still holding the gun out and towards (him).”

The stepmother told police she helped the father, unsure if she would also be shot. She said Austin allegedly waited to call 911 when she asked him to.

Just after 6 p.m., dispatchers received a call from Jensen claiming that he had shot his father after his father tried to assault him. Medics took the father to a local hospital in critical condition, with gunshot wounds to his chest and neck.

A police statement that evening noted a “large police presence” in the area but only said that a man had suffered life-threatening injuries after an assault with a weapon.

Court records show Jensen’s bail was set at $40,000 during a Saturday arraignment. He pleaded not guilty and was assigned a public defender.

Jensen remained in custody Monday at the Anchorage Correctional Complex.

If you or a loved one is suffering from domestic violence, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24 hours a day at 800-799-7233.