Anchorage police fatally shoot gunman after domestic dispute in Sand Lake

Anchorage police responded to a domestic dispute in the Sand Lake area early Monday and shot a man after police said he pointed a gun at officers.

According to a statement from Anchorage police regarding the shooting, no one else was injured in the encounter.

Police dispatchers received reports of a disturbance between a man and a woman at a residence in the 7100 block of Bearfoot Drive, off Northwood Street near Strawberry Drive, just before 2:15 a.m. As officers went to the scene, dispatchers received word that the man had left the apartment complex with a long gun, according to a police statement.

“Several officers arrived and formed two approach teams,” the statement said. “As they approached the apartment complex on foot, the adult male pointed a long gun at the officers. Four officers fired their weapons, striking the adult male at least once in the torso.”

The police said that the officers immediately administered first aid and that the paramedics took over when they arrived, but the man died at the scene of the accident. His name was not immediately known as police notified his family.

The state special prosecutor’s office is reviewing the shooting to determine whether the officers’ use of force was justified. APD Internal Affairs will then review the shooting for any violations of police policy.

At a brief news conference Monday morning, APD Chief Bianca Cross said officers at the scene were wearing body cameras, but footage of them would not be publicly available until the investigation is complete. She said further details, including the relationship between the man and woman in the dispute and any previous police contacts with the man, were still being investigated.

The four officers who shot the man have been placed on administrative leave for four days, per APD policy. They will be identified in three days.