Armed carjacking in Anchorage ends in officer-involved shooting, suspect hospitalised

An elderly man was robbed at gunpoint in east Anchorage on Sunday; police later shot the suspect after he pointed a firearm at officers.

Anchorage carjacking suspect shot by police after pointing gun at officers

An elderly man had his new truck stolen at gunpoint in east Anchorage on Sunday, triggering a hours-long standoff that ended when officers shot and wounded the suspect, according to alaskasnewssource.com.

The incident began around noon on Sunday at the intersection of East 22nd Avenue and Glacier Street. A Subaru pulled up alongside the elderly man while he was parked there. A man stepped out, produced a handgun and demanded the truck's keys. When the victim did not comply immediately, the suspect fired one round and struck him with the weapon. The elderly man lost consciousness; when he came to, he found the suspect removing items from his pockets before driving off in the truck, with the Subaru following.

Anchorage police located the Subaru and traced the suspect to a residence in the 1900 block of East 37th Avenue. Officers arrived on scene around 2 p.m. and remained for roughly six hours. At around 8 p.m., a man believed to be the suspect stepped briefly outside the residence, went back in, and then emerged again. An officer ordered him to raise his hands.

Police Chief Sean Case, speaking at a press conference on Monday, said the suspect instead drew a handgun and pointed it at the officers. Four officers discharged their weapons, hitting the suspect multiple times. He was transported to hospital.

The SWAT Team remained at the residence until approximately 5:30 a.m. Monday. Case noted that the number of people inside the house ran into double figures. As of 10 a.m. Monday, the Crime Scene Team was still processing the property.

Both the elderly victim and the suspect sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Case acknowledged that officer-involved shootings have been unusually frequent this year, but stressed that each incident involved a direct threat of gun violence against officers. "When someone points a gun at an officer, it significantly limits the number of responses available to the officer," he said. "This case was one of those situations."

The police chief also commended the responding officers. "I want to thank the officers for their commitment to the community," Case said. "They're out there doing the right things, not only for the community, but for the victims of crimes like this."

A further press conference is scheduled for next Monday, at which formal charges against the suspect are expected to be announced, Case said.

Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)