Anchorage man fired shotgun at police and strangers before officers shot him, charges say

A man who was shot and seriously injured by police in Anchorage on Monday morning had fired a shotgun at police officers and threatened others, according to an indictment.

According to a criminal complaint filed this week, officers were called by an employee at a Circle K gas station on Bragaw Street who said a man in camouflage clothing was yelling at another customer while holding a shotgun. The man was later identified as 51-year-old Damien Dollison.

Surveillance footage from the gas station showed Dollison arriving there around 2:30 a.m. Monday, the indictment says. After purchasing a drink and parking there for about 30 minutes, Dollison was observed driving away and later returning to the gas station on foot with a shotgun, the indictment says.

Officers interviewed a witness who said Dolison pointed a shotgun at the window of his truck and ordered him to get out. The witness said he “assumed this was a carjacking, so before he got out of the truck, he reached for his pistol,” according to the indictment. After a standoff, Dollison fired one shot at the witness, who, according to the indictment, attempted to shoot back at Dollison, but his safety was on. After another standoff at the entrance to the gas station, during which Dollison and the witness “exchanged words,” according to the indictment, the two agreed to drop their weapons and leave, according to the witness.

When police arrived, they found Dollison in a nearby parking lot. As officers approached Dollison, the complaint states, he pointed the shotgun at them and fired one shot. Officers responded by shooting Dollison twice. He was taken to a hospital with injuries police described as “life-threatening.”

Dollison was charged with aggravated assault and had been hospitalized since Wednesday. His hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

On Thursday morning, Anchorage police named Jacob Jones and Brandon Stack as the officers who shot Dollison. Jones is one of four officers who shot and killed 34-year-old Kristopher Handy in May. Handy died at the scene. Officers claimed he pointed a long gun at them before firing, but surveillance footage of the incident challenges that account.

Since mid-May, Anchorage has seen five police shootings that left three people dead. These police shootings were the first since officers were equipped with body cameras. Despite calls from the public, police have not released footage of the shootings. The city’s new police chief, Sean Case, said the department is working on a new policy for releasing footage of “critical incidents” such as police shootings.