Anchorage police say a man shot and killed by officers last week had a felony warrant for a stolen vehicle and was not legally allowed to have the gun officers found in his possession.
But that’s not why officers approached him, according to Police Chief Sean Case.
Case provided additional details at a news conference Wednesday about what led up to the fatal shooting of 41-year-old Utuva Alaelua.
According to Case, on the night of May 13, Officer Carter Mayes had been monitoring a vehicle parked near an apartment complex in North Mountain View. Case said the vehicle was associated with a man who had a felony warrant for weapons misconduct. A second vehicle then parked nearby.
“[Mayes] observed that vehicle stop in the area of the vehicle he was monitoring, and some people came and went from that vehicle, and then the vehicle drove off towards the officer,” Case said.
Alaelua was the driver of the second vehicle, and Case said Mayes saw the vehicle had a headlight issue. Case said Mayes left the vehicle associated with the man with the weapons misconduct warrant and pulled Alaelua over, though Case said, “the driver was a little slow to pull over, slower than what the officers typically used to.”
“You're not going to see a high speed chase or anything like that,” Case said. “It's just the vehicle pulled over slower than what that officer is particularly used to. And so that raised some concern.”
A second police officer in the area parked in front of Alaelua’s vehicle, Case said, and the second officer approached Alaelua from the driver's side, as Mayes spoke to Alaelua through the passenger-side window. There was a female passenger in the vehicle as well.
Case said Mayes had a brief discussion with Alaelua, telling him why he was pulled over, and asking Alaelua if he had a firearm in the vehicle. Alaelua said he didn’t, and Mayes asked him to exit the vehicle.
Case said the second officer opened the door for Alaelua, but closed it immediately after seeing Alaelua had a handgun in his lap. Officers asked Alaelua to put his hands up, and Case said he initially complied with the commands. When officers asked Alaelua to exit the vehicle, Case said he put one of his hands down.
“What you will see in the video is the hand, the left hand of the driver, dropped down towards that gun,” Case said. “The officer fired one round, and the subject was pronounced deceased on scene.”
During the news conference, Case pointed to photos taken from police body camera footage, highlighting where the gun was on Alaelua’s lap.
Case declined to speculate on whether it’s possible Alaelua had been lowering his left hand to open the car door, rather than reaching for the gun.
“I'll hold off on answering that, just because I think it'll be clear later on, when more information is put out, exactly what the officer saw because of the clear view that he had,” Case said.
Case said Alaelua was not legally allowed to own a firearm and had a felony warrant for a stolen vehicle. APD officials did not immediately respond to a request for information Wednesday on the status of the man with the felony warrant that Mayes was initially monitoring before he began following Alaelua. But Case said he didn’t believe that officers thought that Alaelua was the same person as that separate suspect.
Alaelua is the fifth person shot by Anchorage police this year, and the third to die as a result. Last year, Anchorage police shot eight people, killing five of them. They were the first police shootings since the department began outfitting officers with body cameras. So far, all officers involved in shootings this year and last year have been cleared of wrongdoing by the state Office of Special Prosecutions. More than 150 police shootings have occurred in the state since 2010, according to state records. Zero of those have resulted in an officer being charged with a crime.
Asked about the high number of police shootings during a separate news conference on public safety held Tuesday morning, Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance said her administration is working to make sure the police are trained properly to handle high-pressure situations.
“Since we have taken office, the chief has been focused on reviewing APD and we have an RFP (Request for Proposal) for a third party that will conduct a review of APD’s policies, procedures and training,” LaFrance said. “Our focus is again on ensuring that everyone in the public is safe, and we take our job of public safety very seriously, and so we have been engaged in a very rigorous review.”
During the same news conference, Case expressed dismay that a person was killed during a traffic stop, both from an officer’s and the public’s perspective.
“From any way that you look at a traffic stop that results in any use of force or significant use of force, whether you're a member of the public or a member of the police department, it's always concerning,” Case said. “I mean, think about an officer going to a traffic stop with the intent of probably writing a ticket, and that turns into a larger incident.”
Case confirmed Wednesday that Utuva Alaelua was the brother of 41-year-old Puipuia Alaelua, who was shot and killed by Anchorage police in February after police say he barricaded himself in a hotel room with four children and their mother, whom he threatened with a gun. State prosecutors said the officers who shot at Puipuia Alaelua were legally justified. The decision from the state came days before Utuva Alaelua was killed.
Case said APD is wrapping up its investigation of Utuva’s killing, and will then pass off the investigation to the Office of Special Prosecutions. Body camera footage of Utuva’s killing will be publicly released by APD once the state makes a determination in the shooting, APD officials said.
