Anchorage police shoot and wound suspect in murder near homeless encampment on 5th Avenue

Anchorage police shot and wounded a man Friday afternoon who they said was the suspect in a fatal shooting reported the previous day.

In a brief statement Friday evening, police said the man was shot and wounded in the 200 block of North Post Road. He was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case said in a news conference Friday evening that dispatch received a call just before 4:30 p.m. Friday from three people reporting that an armed man on a bicycle was searching for them. When police responded to the call, they received information linking the man to the fatal shooting of a man Thursday near a homeless encampment on 5th Avenue.

When police arrived, people on the scene identified a male bicyclist riding away as the suspect. Case said the man did not respond to commands and officers got in their vehicles to pursue him.

When they caught up with him, Case said, one of the officers got out of a police vehicle and ordered the man to stop, giving him “considerably” lengthy orders.

“The suspect then turned and fired a single shot in the direction of the officer and a civilian vehicle,” Case said. “The officer issuing the commands then fired several shots; the suspect then fell to the ground. The suspect then sat up and fired at least two more shots at the officer and the civilian vehicle, prompting the officer who had originally fired shots to fire again.”

Case said no officers were injured in the shooting. The man was taken to a local hospital with injuries that police said are life-threatening.

According to Case, the shooting was captured on the officers' body-worn cameras. Under current APD policy, footage of the shooting will be released in 45 days.

Case congratulated officers on their vigilance under difficult circumstances and confirmed that the man shot on Friday was the suspect in both incidents.

“The suspect in tonight's shooting was actually the suspect in yesterday's murder,” Case said.

This is the seventh shooting by Anchorage police since mid-May. Four of those shootings were fatal.

This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.

Chris Klint is a web producer and breaking news reporter at Alaska Public Media. You can reach him at[email protected].Read more about ChrisHere.