Fourth officer-involved shooting in less than 40 days after woman shot and killed in Northeast Anchorage

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The Anchorage Police Department is investigating the city’s fourth officer-involved shooting in less than 40 days. The most recent one, which APD reported early Thursday, occurred sometime after 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in an East Anchorage neighborhood.

According to APD, a woman was found dead after police were unsuccessful in getting the woman to comply with orders to leave her home.

In a release, police said the suspect “fired multiple shots inside the home,” but in a follow-up email to APD, a spokesperson would not clarify if that meant the woman shot at police or fired the gun within the house without the bullets leaving the home.

Neighbors on Thursday morning described the woman who lived there as a widow in her 50s who lived with her dog.

“His name is Cascade,” neighbor Julie Confer said of the woman’s pit bull mix. “Like over a waterfall.”

Confer says she’s taking care of the dog, who she says is still covered in chemical agents used by police during the standoff until someone from the family can take him.

The situation started after 5:30 p.m. Wednesday with police responding to a home on the 7400 block of East 20th Avenue.

Then, by 7:20 p.m., authorities said multiple police teams were on the scene, including the SWAT unit, Tactical Support and the Crisis Negotiations Team. Residents were encouraged to evacuate from their homes.

By 2 a.m. Thursday, police reported that “initial indications are that an interaction occurred outside between the adult female suspect, who was armed with a long gun, and an unarmed neighborhood resident. The suspect’s actions put that resident in fear of immediate physical harm. The suspect retreated into her home prior to police arrival; she was the only one inside.”

After obtaining an arrest warrant on a third-degree assault charge, SWAT officers used multiple tactics, including gas deployment, to encourage the woman to come outside.

Confer says once police started using gas they told her she should evacuate.

Ultimately, police say, one SWAT officer discharged their weapon from outside. During a search of the home, officers found the woman dead inside.

Wednesday morning, from her back porch, which overlooks the home where the shooting happened, Confer pointed out multiple windows smashed in the back of the home.

Neighbors say they could hear police yelling, but not the woman shot.

“It’s a nice neighborhood,” Shomari Liebig-Williams, who lives across the street on the corner, said. “Anything can happen. You don’t know what’s going on in someone’s house half the time.”

Most people Alaska’s News Source spoke with describe the woman shot and killed as very quiet, polite and friendly.

“She just comes out and waves and does her yard work,” Liebig-Williams said.

“She was a little reserved quiet, ya, very nice lady,” Confer said. “I’ve known her for quite a while. I knew her and her husband before he passed.”

This year, four officers have been involved in deadly shootings.

The first shooting was May 13, when police shot and killed Kris Handy outside a Sand Lake apartment building after police said he raised a gun toward them.

According to police, the officers approached the apartment in two teams, and Handy “raised a long gun towards the officers” before they fired their guns at him.

But in a 33-second surveillance video obtained by Alaska’s News Source and timestamped beginning at 2:38 a.m., Handy can be seen walking toward the front of the building, yelling obscenities and holding a long gun by his side.

It was the first time an officer in Anchorage had fatally shot someone while wearing a body camera, a newer tool being used by Anchorage police.

The next officer-involved shooting was June 1 — near multiple downtown bars.

At 2:25 a.m., APD mid-shift patrol officers were on Fourth Avenue for bar break. About two minutes later, Anchorage police said officers heard shots being fired from the parking lot near the intersection of H Street and Third Avenue.

Police say Kaleb Bourdukofsky shot and killed 25-year-old Diego Joe after the two physically fought. Witnesses pointed the officers to Bourdukofsky, they chased after him, and when officers ordered him to stop — and he didn’t — they shot him, according to police.

Bourdukofsky survived and was last reported to be recovering in the hospital.

The third police-involved shooting happened June 3 outside the Anchorage Senior Activity Center in Anchorage’s Fairview neighborhood.

Police say they were called to reports of gunfire and found two people in the parking lot who were identified by witnesses as being involved in the shooting.

APD says one man complied with instructions, but the second man didn’t.

At APD headquarters, Police Chief Designee Bianca Cross identified the man who died as Tyler May, age 21.

The most recent shooting, similar to the three others, will be investigated by the State’s Office of Special Prosecutions, per policy. Once that is complete, APD Internal Affairs will conduct its own review to determine if the officer violated policy.

The officer who fired their weapon was placed on administrative leave for four days and their name will be released publicly 72 hours following the shooting and the Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.

The deceased woman’s name will not be released until her family is notified. The Anchorage Police Department says it will hold a press conference about this shooting at a to-be-determined time and date.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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