A man’s dead body found in East Anchorage overnight brings the number of murders to 11 in the 15 weeks of 2019. If Anchorage keeps up this pace, there would be 38 homicide deaths by the end of the year. And summertime, when more tend to occur, is still weeks away.
The count may actually be higher. Some deaths are still under investigation, such as the individual who died in a house fire in South Anchorage on Sunday.
There were 28 homicides in Anchorage in 2018. Anchorage set a record of 37 homicides in 2017, 34 homicides in 2016, and 26 homicides in 2015.
At 10:40 p.m. on April 8, Anchorage police received a report of shots fired in the 5400 block of Taku Drive, in the Wonder Park neighborhood. Patrol officers found a man dead near the road. The location of the shooting was right alongside the Glenn Highway, where Taku Drive makes a sharp curve.
The department’s crime team is investigating and detectives are seeking witnesses. (APD Case: 19-12432).
