Anchorage police say an officer shot and killed a driver who had a gun late Monday during a Mountain View traffic stop.
In a news conference early Tuesday, Police Chief Sean Case said the incident occurred just after 11:30 p.m. Monday, in an area between Peterkin Avenue and Thompson Street. The driver, who was pulled over for a headlight issue, also had a single passenger.
As two officers approached the vehicle on either side, Case said they saw a gun in the “lap area” of the driver.
“One of the officers was on the passenger side of the vehicle, made contact with the driver and began giving the driver commands,” Case said. “Shortly after observing the gun, the officer on the passenger side of the vehicle fired one round, striking the driver. The driver was pronounced deceased on the scene.”
Police have not yet publicly identified the driver killed.
Case told reporters that it wasn’t immediately clear from the officers’ body cameras whether the driver was holding the gun. Lighting issues, reflections from vehicle windows and motion blur all obscured events as seen in the footage, he said.
“It's difficult to see from the video, so that's why we gotta wait for the officers to be able to confirm what they saw,” Case said.
Detectives were conducting an initial investigation Tuesday and had yet to interview the officers, according to Case, as well as the vehicle’s passenger.
In the next few days, Case said, police will release more information about the shooting including the driver’s name.
The shooting will also be reviewed by the state Office of Special Prosecutions.
The driver shot Monday is the 13th person shot by Anchorage police in the past year. Eight of those people have died.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
