Anchorage police shot and killed a man who allegedly held people hostage Friday morning in a room at a Midtown hotel. It’s the second fatal shooting by officers this year.
At a press conference held over Microsoft Teams, police chief Sean Case said officers responded at around 3:50 a.m. Friday to the Hampton Inn, off West Tudor Road near C Street. Security from the hotel reported a suspicious vehicle that they believed was stolen, Case said, and one of the two people who left the vehicle went into a hotel room.
“It was roughly around 4:12 in the morning, when we had started to determine that this was a hostage situation,” Case said.
A SWAT team responded to the call, and Case said a separate negotiation team was able to make contact with the suspect.
“While that communication was taking place, two rounds were fired through the door, presumably at the officers as they were on the outside of the room,” he said.
Case said officers didn’t immediately go into the room after shots were fired. In total, he said there were six people in the room, including the suspect. Some of them were children.
“At one point in time, officers observed a crime being committed against one of the occupants of the room,” Case said. “Officers made entry into the room and fired at least one round at the subject, where he was later pronounced deceased on scene.”
The suspect was declared dead just after 9 a.m., a little over five hours after officers responded.
Case declined to elaborate on what type of crime was committed, or how officers knew the crime took place. He says none of the officers or children were injured, but he couldn’t confirm how many of the hostages were adults, and if any of those adults were injured.
Case didn’t elaborate on the suspect’s identity. An APD Spokesman said it’s unclear if the person who was with the suspect in the vehicle was involved in the hostage situation.
The hostages were transferred to Anchorage Fire Department medics to be checked out. Case described the incident as the “most dynamic thing” officers have to face.
“I can't express just the gratitude and the risk that they took,” Case said. “To make an entry into a room in these circumstances, particularly when there's children inside the room, truly an expression of the training and the professionalism that they have.”
Earlier this month, police shot and killed 33-year-old Francis Rochon after they say he pointed a gun at vehicles driving along West Tudor Road. In total, Anchorage officers have shot four people this year.
Last year, Anchorage police shot eight people. Five of them died.
This story has been updated.
Editor’s note: Police initially reported that the incident had occurred at around 5 a.m. They later said that timeline was inaccurate, and that it began before 4 a.m.
