State prosecutors have determined that the August shooting of a murder suspect wounded in an exchange of gunfire with Anchorage police was legally justified.
The state Office of Special Prosecutions announced Friday that it will not file charges against the officer who shot Michael Alto. Alto was the seventh of eight people shot by Anchorage police this year — one of only three to survive the encounters. Prosecutors have now cleared all police officers involved in those shootings.
According to a review letter from state prosecutors, Anchorage police were told on Aug. 23 that a man on a bicycle and armed with a gun had come after two people just outside a moving company near Ship Creek. Three officers responded to the call, and as they interviewed employees of the business, an employee pointed out the suspect across the street, later identified as Alto, then 31 years old.
After police asked him to stop, according to the letter, Alto fled on his bicycle down a bike path, and the officers chased him in their vehicles. Eventually, officers blocked Alto with their vehicles at the intersection of Viking Drive and North Post Street. Officials say Alto then pointed a handgun at officers and fired once. Officer Ryan Kelley, a six-year APD veteran, fired five shots at Alto in response. Investigators say Alto fell to the ground and fired two more shots in the direction of another officer and civilians, leading Kelley to fire another five rounds at Alto, incapacitating him. Alto was taken to a hospital where he was treated for multiple gunshot wounds.
Alto was later identified as the suspect in the fatal shooting of 48-year-old Carl Washington near a homeless camp off 5th Avenue the day before. In September, Alto pleaded not guilty to five felony counts, including murder, attempted murder and assault charges.
Body camera footage of Alto’s shooting has not been publicly released.