Anchorage Police reported an officer-involved shooting at the 500 block of W. Northern Lights Blvd shortly before 2 p.m. Tuesday. A male suspect was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries after an officer who responded to an armed-robbery-in-progress call fired 5 to 8 rounds at the man, who refused to follow police commands and attempted to flee. The suspect was stopped by two of the bullets that stuck his upper body.
The incident happened at a business where the suspect is believed to have bound a woman with tape on her wrists and across her mouth. The suspect, who had a handgun, was breaking into the ATM at the business.
“Enormous police response. Felt like the entire on duty shift. They closed Northern Lights,” said a Must Read Alaska source who was on the scene.
The name of the suspect and the officer involved in the shooting will be released in coming days, said Chief Sean Case at an afternoon press conference, which can be viewed here.
Case also said that the incident was captured by the officer’s body camera, but portions of it were obscured.
One week into 2025, this was the first officer-involved shooting in Anchorage for the year. Last year there were eight, with five resulting in the deaths of the suspects.
As of publication time, Mayor Suzanne LaFrance has not apologized to the suspect for the behavior of the officer. Last summer, she apologized to the family of a young woman who was threatening people with a knife and ended up dead from an officer’s bullet. LaFrance called for an independent investigation of the officer and the department itself. LaFrance later apologized for apologizing.
This is how it should be done. (looks at wrist watch) any bets on how long it will take the usual suspects to protest? How long until Mayor LaFrance apologizes to the victim’s family (not the poor woman who was bound, but the guy who was shot)?
Two of eight rounds hit the target? Less DEI lectures, more time at the range.
If he was attempting to flee, was he shot in the back?
Who cares?
does that matter?
Would you prefer they not attempt to pursue and capture so the idiot can proceed to target their next victim?
Any crime involving the use of a deadly weapon deserves any action required to stop the spread of deadly harm and protect innocent victims. Even if the mayor’s office disagrees.
Where you shoot someone is rarely legally relevant when it comes to justification, the relevant question is _why_ did you shoot them? “Attempting to flee” is 20/20 hindsight, even if correct. What is actually perceived is simply the perpetrator beginning to move, what that movement actually _is_ can only be learned after the fact. If it was them reaching for a weapon or turning to engage, then the defender might be dead by the time it becomes clear.
Even setting aside Tennessee v. Garner, as long as the officer can articulate why, given the totality of the circumstances, the perpetrator’s actions at the moment of firing could be reasonably perceived as attempting to harm the officer or another then the shooting should be legally (and morally) fine.
Human performance factors are known quantities. It takes time for a person to perceive a stimulus and react to it, such as perceiving what appears to be an imminent deadly force threat and actually getting a defensive shot off. For most people that’s a solid quarter second or longer. The same limitations apply when it is time to stop shooting. There will always be a lag, and in that lag additional shots can be fired.
Given that most people tend to reflexively turn away from gunfire, those later shots often end up impacting the dorsal side of the body* even if the target was facing the shooter when they started firing.
* Which is often misrepresented by ignorant reporters as “the back”, even though it includes everything behind the coronal plane, to include what most people would consider “the side”.
Oh.. bummer.
Another waste of human skin attains room temperature.
.
Cue the bleeding hearts claiming this is awful. The only thing awful about this is the breakdown of the family unit that allowed this miscreant to become a criminal. Sending him to rigor mortis is a benefit to all of society.
Has Mayor LaFrance tearfully apologized to the suspect and the suspects family for the (lawful) actions of the Officers yet? Obviously they used excessive force (sarcasm).
FAFO
Anchorage cops are the best!
Send the cop back to the shooting range for more practice. There should have been 5 to 8 rounds in the “suspect”.
Should have been, but try it sometime before you leap to criticizing.
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Hitting a moving target who is actively defending themselves while under stress is not the walk in the park you are implying. Time on the range does NOTHING to prepare you for an actual fire fight.
Says who? Mr. or Mrs. Hero?
Progress.
The mayor is waiting for her helpers to write the response to a criminal who probably has a record.
She is just like any lib and will have a structured speech to explain why this poor individual was shot by the mean cops.
No doubt Lafrance will be awarding a no bid contract to a favored security specialist to write new policy for APD rules of engagement.
More of the same. Crime is peaking under her nose.
But no, really, DEI and soft responses with Clinicians work soooooooo well.