Man shot by Anchorage police charged with murder in earlier downtown shooting

Updated: 2 Some minutes ago Published: 2 Some minutes ago

A 22-year-old man who was shot and injured by police officers in downtown Anchorage early Saturday night has been charged with murder. He had been killed shortly before in a nearby gunfire incident.

Kaleb Eugene Bourdukofsky is accused of shooting two men — one died, the other survived and was hospitalized, police said. The shooting followed a fight outside a nearby bar, the indictment says.

Bourdukofsky, who survived the police shooting and was also hospitalized, faces charges of first-degree murder, second-degree assault and reckless homicide, unlawful use of a weapon and second-degree assault, according to charging documents filed Sunday.

The shootings occurred around 2:30 a.m. Saturday, police said. According to the indictment, officers responding to the shooting “saw a man with a gun running through a parking lot” on Third Avenue between G and H streets.

“Officers began to pursue the man and give him verbal commands,” the indictment states. “The man refused to stop and was shot by police.” He was shot near the corner of G Street and Third Avenue, police previously said. He was taken to the hospital and identified as Bourdukofsky, the indictment states.

In a booth behind the nearby Pioneer Bar, officers found a man on the floor with numerous gunshot wounds, the indictment says. He was pronounced dead at the scene, the indictment says. Another man was shot in the leg while standing near the Pioneer Bar and was taken to the hospital, the indictment says.

As of Sunday evening, neither of the two men had been identified.

According to the prosecution, witnesses told police that Bourdukofsky shot the man on the ground. Police observed Surveillance video shows that Bourdukofsky and the man who died had been involved in an argument shortly before, that the man had punched Bourdukofsky in the face and that they eventually lay on the ground fighting while the other man lay on top of Bourdukofsky, the indictment says.

After they were separated by onlookers, Bourdukofsky began walking away, then turned and began shooting at people behind the Pioneer Bar, the indictment says. As onlookers ran away, the man was shot and Bourdukofsky walked toward him while firing more shots, the indictment says. The man fell and Bourdukofsky continued shooting before walking north toward Third Avenue, the indictment says.

Bourdukofsky’s condition was not immediately clear Sunday. In a written statement Saturday, police said he was hospitalized in stable condition. “Witnesses pointed out a man to officers and stated that the man had been involved in the shooting that had just occurred,” police wrote. “Officers engaged the man, who was armed with a weapon, near W 3rd Avenue and G Street. Two officers fired their weapons, striking the adult male in the upper torso and lower torso.”

Per police department policy, the officers involved in the shooting have been placed on leave and the state Office of Special Prosecutors will investigate the case.

On May 13, Anchorage police officers shot and killed a man outside a West Anchorage apartment building after he allegedly pointed a gun at them. That shooting is currently under investigation and sparked controversy after public video surfaced and raised questions about whether the man had a gun raised when he was shot. Police have declined to release officers’ bodycam videos while the investigation is ongoing.

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