Police identify 58-year-old woman who died during standoff at East Anchorage home

Updated: 18 Seconds before Published: 3 Some minutes ago

Anchorage police on Saturday identified Lisa M. Fordyce-Blair as the woman who died early Thursday morning after an altercation with police officers that resulted in gunfire.

Fordyce-Blair, 58, fired several shots inside her home before a SWAT officer “fired his weapon from outside,” police said. She was found dead inside the home, they said. It was not clear whether the officer shot her, and police did not answer further questions about the encounter this week.

Officers were called to the 7400 block of East 20th Avenue on Wednesday afternoon because a neighbor reported that Fordyce-Blair had been yelling at him and his child with a hunting rifle while they were yard work, according to a criminal complaint filed by an officer who answered the call. The neighbor feared she was going to shoot him and his child, the complaint states.

According to police, Fordyce-Blair was inside her home and refused to come out when officers arrived.

SWAT officers, crisis negotiation officers and mobile intervention teams responded to execute an arrest warrant for third-degree assault, police said.

The officers tried “multiple times” to contact Fordyce-Blair and eventually sprayed gas into her house, police said. She fired several shots inside the house, they said.

A SWAT officer fired from outside, and when police entered, they found Fordyce-Blair dead, officials said. A police spokeswoman did not answer questions this week about whether Fordyce-Blair was shot by the officer. Police said they are investigating the case as a police-involved shooting.

The cause of Fordyce-Blair’s death will now be determined by the coroner, police said. The procedures for notifying her next of kin have been completed, police said on Saturday.

This is the fourth time police officers have shot someone in Anchorage since mid-May. The three previous shootings left two men dead and a third hospitalized.

Tyler May, 21, died June 3 when he was shot during a standoff with police in a parking lot in Fairview. Two days earlier, police officers shot and wounded 22-year-old Kaleb Bourdukofsky as he fled after firing into a downtown crowd early that morning, killing a 25-year-old man and wounding another, police said. Anchorage police officers shot and killed 34-year-old Kristopher Handy outside a West Anchorage apartment building on May 13. Police said he pointed a gun at them.

This series of shootings was the first time officers wore body cameras. Anchorage Police Chief-elect Bianca Cross has repeatedly said she will not release footage of the shootings, even though police policy allows it, until the Office of Special Prosecutions completes an investigation to determine whether charges are warranted. That investigation could take months.

Cross’ decision sparked a public outcry demanding the release of the bodycam footage.

(Related: In one moment, an emotional night turned deadly: The Anchorage police shooting on June 3 was the 6th death since 2020)