One man killed in shooting in downtown Anchorage, another injured by police, police say

A man was killed in a shooting in downtown Anchorage early Saturday morning, and police officers responding to him shot and wounded another man who witnesses said was involved in the shooting, police said.

According to a statement from Anchorage police, officers were conducting a bar patrol in the 700 block of West 4th Avenue around 2:25 a.m., when officers heard gunshots coming from a parking lot on the southeast corner of H Street and West 3rd Avenue, near the Nesbett Courthouse.

Police said the shots were fired during an “altercation” in the parking lot that left one man dead at the scene and a second man wounded by a shot to the lower body.

“The number of shooters, who they are, the motive behind the shooting and whether those involved knew each other are all under investigation,” police said. “After the shooting in the parking lot, several people fled the scene.”

When patrol officers arrived, police said witnesses pointed out a man and said he was involved in the shooting.

“Officers engaged the man, who was armed with a weapon, near 3rd Avenue and G Street,” the police statement said. “Two officers fired their weapons, striking the adult male in the upper and lower torso.”

Police have not released the name of the man killed in the first encounter in the parking lot. The two injured men were both taken to local hospitals. Police said the man injured in the first shooting had injuries that were not life-threatening and the man who officers shot was in stable condition.

Police are asking anyone who witnessed the first shooting and has not yet spoken to investigators to contact them at 311. Drivers should expect road closures near both crime scenes on Saturday. The two crime scenes are being investigated separately, according to police.

The names of the two officers involved in the ensuing shooting will be released in three days, and they have been placed on leave for four days as per standard APD policy, the statement said. The shooting will be investigated first by the state Office of Special Prosecutions for any violations of state law, then by APD’s Internal Affairs Division for any violations of police policy.

Saturday’s incident came after police shot and killed Kristopher Handy at a Sand Lake apartment complex last month, putting police in the public eye. APD Chief-designate Bianca Cross, appointed by outgoing Mayor Dave Bronson, said in a news conference hours after Handy’s May 13 death that he pointed a long gun at the officers – a statement soon refuted by a neighbor who said her surveillance footage showed otherwise. Cross also said the four officers who shot Handy were wearing body cameras, but said the footage would not be released until after an investigation, despite his family’s immediate demands for it.

This story will be updated as more details become available.