The 23-year-old man shot dead by Alaska State Troopers on Friday was on the lam from the Cordova Center in Anchorage and a warrant had been issued for his arrest in April. He had a short but troubled life, much of it spent incarcerated.
Troopers saw a silver Jeep weaving recklessly through Gold Rush Estates Trailer Park in Fairbanks at about 2:40 am. The Jeep nearly hit a marked Trooper vehicle, forcing the Trooper to take evasive action. A chase ensued and the Jeep driver led the Trooper to a wooded area between the Fairbanks Airport and the Tanana River flood dike, where Dimitri Lanahan exited the Jeep and pointed what appeared to be an assault rifle at the Trooper.
A Trooper shot Lanahan, who was declared dead at the scene.
The rifle used by Lanahan turned out to be a replica, a paintball gun designed to look like a real rifle. The Jeep and the license plates turned out to have been stolen in Anchorage.
Lanahan is from Kodiak, where he attended junior high school; he spent time as an inmate at the McLaughlin Youth Center in Anchorage. He had most recently been convicted of Assault III, Criminal Mischief, Violating Conditions of Release, and False Information.
The Alaska Bureau of Investigation is conducting an investigation into the incident; once complete, their investigation will then be reviewed by the Alaska Office of Special Prosecutions. The name of the trooper who shot Lanahan will be released after 72 hours per department policy.
