The gasline company that the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation is in negotiations with to build the AK-LNG project was revealed this week to be the Glenfarne Group. The news came on Tuesday from the Alaska Landmine, a news and opinion organization that announced it on X. It has been confirmed by sources in the Governor’s Office.
At the end of a press availability on Jan. 6 with Gov. Mike Dunleavy, the AGDC President Frank Richards said the state-owned agency has entered into a framework agreement with a qualified energy producing company for Alaska LNG, a proposed gasline from the North Slope, which will include a Nikiski export facility, a pipeline, and carbon capture components. A formal agreement is expected to be announced soon. But Richards didn’t say who the company was, at the time. That news leaked out the next day.
“I don’t understand why people treat these things as so secretive. It always comes out anyway. It’s pretty loose when a deal of this nature gets broken by the Landmine,” said Jeff Landfield, publisher.
But it’s early, and it’s all a stage-gated process, where each party meets certain goals before moving forward, in order to de-risk the project for all parties at the table. The gas itself is owned by the oil companies with leases on the North Slope, and for many years has been very useful right where it is, reinjected into the drained underground oil geologic caverns to force out more oil for the Trans Alaska Pipeline System.
“The terms of the framework agreement are being negotiated or have been negotiated; the next step is for both parties to create a legally binding development agreement that will move the project forward,” Richards explained.
Glenfarne Group is a global company based in New York City and Houston, Texas and is a developer, owner, operator, and industrial manager of energy and infrastructure assets, like the one that Alaska has been trying to get out off of the drawing boards for decades.
Glenfarne, founded in 2011 by Australian Brendan Duval, also owns companies in South and Central America. In 2022, Glenfarne Asset Company, LLC acquired Termonorte Colombia S.A.S. (the “Plant” or “Termonorte”), a power plant located near the port of Santa Marta in Colombia.
“The acquisition reinforces Glenfarne’s commitment to providing grid stability to Colombia and the entire Latin American region,” the company said. Read more about Glenfarne at its website.
The group appears to have raised $4 billion for the $44 billion Alaska LNG project, which would bring North Slope gas to tidewater at Nikiski, where it could be exported to Asian markets. Offtakes would allow gas to be delivered to communities on the Railbelt, from Fairbanks to the Kenai Peninsula.
“There is nothing more permanent than a temporary sales tax.” – Anon
It’s tax season and Alaskans are starting to prepare for the April 15 federal tax deadline.
The Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday night delayed a public vote on whether to enact the Assembly’s proposed 3% “temporary” sales tax. It won’t be on the April 1 ballot.
Rather than drive fed-up residents to the polls right when people are calculating their federal tax returns, a time when liberal candidates favored by the Assembly majority might be rejected by voters, the Assembly will instead have a special election for the sales tax, at a date to be determined. Likely, it will come at a time when the public is distracted by fishing or holidays and won’t send in their ballots. Anchorage conducts all of its elections by mail.
With fewer people paying attention, the Assembly can assure a low turnout, which means that the municipal employees and unions will make up the majority of the voters, while the rest of Anchorage sits it out on a salmon stream somewhere in Alaska.
Special elections like this are designed for a certain outcome. City workers and their unions will want that sales tax to go through, because government workers always want more resources to have more government programs.
The Assembly is looking for revenues it can get outside of the tax cap, which it is now up against. Recently, it increased tariffs at the Port of Alaska — outside the tax cap. Most bonds on the municipal ballots have a caveat that all future costs related to a project, such as operation and maintenance, will also be outside the tax cap. The alcohol tax is outside the tax cap. The list of taxes the city leaders and voters have passed outside the cap is extensive.
Proponents have promised it will reduce property taxes, but they are challenged by a public that has little faith in government promised being kept.
The sales tax proposal by Assembly members Randy Sulte and Felix Rivera might generate $180 million annually, but would have significant administrative costs and mean additional revenue staff. The sponsors say the sales tax would be temporary.
Sales taxes never end up being temporary.
For example, Minnesota passed a temporary sales tax that was later temporarily increased to 6% in 1982, and was made permanent the next year. Another temporary increase to 6.5% in 1991 is still on the books today — 33 years of temporary sales tax that not only didn’t go away, but has crept higher.
The special election is estimated to cost taxpayers $200,000.
The resolution to delay the election passed 7-5, with Scott Myers, Mark Littlefield, Karen Bronga, George Martinez, and chairman Chris Constant voting against it, and Meg Zaletel, Felix Rivera, Daniel Holland, Randy Sulte, Kameron Perez-Verdia, Anna Brawley, and Zac Johnson voting in favor.
After the election of Donald Trump as president, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is the Democrat leader in the failed never-Trump movement, immediately convened a special session to ask for $25 million to fight the Trump Administration.
Newsom has made a name for himself as the head of the resistance against Trump and although many thought he should replace Joe Biden this year as president, his political hands were tied. He has been a strong possibility to run for president in 2028.
Newsom said in November he needed the money to protect “California values,” which include being a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants and the child gender mutilation industry.
Newsom is now battling to preserve his political future, but he has not been helped by the slow federal government.
It wasn’t until late Wednesday that the Biden Administration announced it would send additional firefighting personnel and capabilities to California to assist in battling the series of out-of-control wildfires. When those assets will arrive is uncertain, but wind-driven fire weather is expected to remain until Friday in Southern California, where the footprint of the fires are small, but are many and are in urban areas that now look like war zones.
Newsom is being blamed for focusing on the wrong things, and not being ready for the fires, which have destroyed hundreds of homes and killed five people in the past week.
“Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way,” Donald Trump wroteon Truth Social, the social media platform he started after the old Twitter management kicked him off of that platform.
Newsom says Trump mischaracterizes the complex water system in California. But as the leader of the anti-Trump movement, he and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass appear to be ineffective leaders and are fighting battles on two fronts: The disaster response and the political fallout for them both.
“Fire is spreading rapidly for 3 days — ZERO CONTAINMENT. Nobody has ever seen such failed numbers before! Gross incompetence by Gavin Newscum and Karen Bass….And Biden’s FEMA has no money — all wasted on the Green New Scam! L.A. is a total wipeout!!!” Trump posted on Thursday morning on Truth Social.
The left-leaning Los Angeles Times categorizes that as false, but in fact, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 authorized the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Recovery and Emergency Actto provide financial assistance for costs associated with low-carbon construction materials and net-zero energy projects. FEMA’s 2022-2026 Strategic Plan includes “whole of community in climate resilience” and encourages states to build climate-resilient communities. This is a vast expansion of the original Stafford Act, signed into law in 1988 and designed to provide a framework for the federal government to offer financial assistance to state and local governments when dealing with major disasters. It allows the president to declare emergencies and major disasters and to provide federal aid in situations like hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, fires, and other natural events, essentially supplementing state and local efforts to save lives and protect property.
Hundreds if not thousands of structures have burned and over 100,000 Los Angeles residents have been ordered to evacuate while their neighborhoods burn out of control. Opportunistic looters have snuck into the burned-out wealthier neighborhoods to take advantage of the evacuation, and only two have been arrested for looting.
With entire communities in the Los Angeles County area burned to the ground, Mayor Bass and Gov. Newsom have just watched as their political futures were also torched by the city and state governments’ inability to prioritize what is the first role of government: To protect citizens.
It’s a cautionary tale for the leaders in Anchorage, where hillside residents face some of the same conditions, with dry weather and high winds combining at times to create wildfire conditions. While the mayor and Assembly of the city focus on equity and diversity, crime has spun out of control in the city and never discuss hardening the hillside surrounding Anchorage against fires, which are increasingly started in homeless encampments that migrate from one greenbelt to another.
Just as in Pacific Palisades, the canyon neighborhood that burned in greater Los Angeles, many areas of the hillside in Anchorage have winding and narrow roads with limited access and no fire hydrants. The mayor and the Assembly of Anchorage, meanwhile, have made it their priority to remove the dam on the Eklutna River that serves as a reservoir for Anchorage’s water supply.
By KENNETH SCHRUPP | THE CENTER SQUARE and MUST READ ALASKA
Hundreds of fire hydrants were stolen from the ground for scrap metal in advance of the blazes raging across Los Angeles, highlighting the local government’s challenges in maintaining basic order and infrastructure.
“These fire hydrant thefts are yet another sign of how crime is out of control in Los Angeles County,” said Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman to The Center Square before his November election. “Thieves know they’ll face little or no consequences if they are caught, so they’re willing to risk the public’s safety for a small profit.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who has been away on a taxpayer-funded trip to Africa as a member of a Biden administration delegation, recently cut the fire department’s budget by $17.6 million.
Upon her arrival back in the United States, Sky News asked Bass whether she regrets cutting the fire department’s budget, and if she feels she owes citizens an apology for being absent as the city burned.
Bass ignored the questions, her eyes glued to the ground as she proceeded through the airport.
Days before Bass left for Ghana, the National Weather Service’s Los Angeles Bureau warned of “extreme fire weather conditions.”
The day before fires broke out, Bass shared a NWS warning, suggesting she may have been aware of the fire before her departure.
“There is an expected destructive and potentially life-threatening windstorm starting Tuesday morning through Wednesday afternoon,” said Bass. “Stay safe LA!”
On Wednesday, fire hydrants in Pacific Palisades lost their water pressure entirely. All water storage tanks in the area were dry. Water reservoir projects promised by the state government for years have not been built.
As of Wednesday evening the fires are zero percent contained.
Stay up with the Los Angeles Fire Department reports and maps at this link.
In Alaska, Begich said, firearms are a fundamental way of life.
“The right to protect ourselves, our families, and our communities does not fade away as you cross an imaginary line. That’s why I am proud to be an original co-sponsor of H.R. 38, and I encourage my colleagues in the House to support this important piece of legislation.”
Congressman Richard Hudson of North Carolina led over 120 of his colleagues in introducing H.R. 38. The legislation would provide nationwide reciprocity for concealed carry license holders and for residents of constitutional carry states.
Hudson introduced the bill in previous years. In December 2017, the bill passed the House with bipartisan support, yet it was not taken up in the Senate.
Rep. Hudson has repeatedly said he would continue to pursue the legislation, again in 2023, and again not being taken up in the Senate.
Then-Rep. Mary Peltola, who was voted out of office in November, chose not to co-sponsor the 2023 attempt to pass the bill and it is doubtful President Joe Biden would have signed it.
President Donald Trump, however, has committed to signing national concealed carry reciprocity legislation into law.
The bill has support of the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America.
“Congress has the opportunity to deliver the greatest legislative victory for the gun rights movement in a century, and President Trump has already voiced his support,” said Aidan Johnston, Gun Owners of America Director of Federal Affairs.“With all 50 states now issuing concealed carry permits, 49 states allowing nonresident carry, and 29 states with permitless or Constitutional Carry, it is simply common sense for Congress to ensure that each state’s concealed carry license is valid in every other state. We thank President Trump for his leadership on this issue and urge Congress to swiftly send Rep. Hudson’s Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act to the President’s desk to be signed.”
“On behalf of the USCCA’s more than 850,000 members nationwide, we applaud Congressman Hudson’s continued leadership in defending the rights of responsibly-armed Americans,” said Tim Schmidt, President and Co-Founder of U.S. Concealed Carry Association. “Our Constitutional rights do not end at state lines. This legislation is critical to ensuring law-abiding gun owners’ fundamental right to defend themselves and their loved ones regardless of geography or location. The USCCA remains committed to seeing H.R. 38, the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, one of the most consequential reforms for gun owners nationwide, signed into law.”
National Shooting Sports Foundation Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence Keane said, “This legislation eliminates the confusing patchwork of laws surrounding concealed carry permits that vary from state-to-state, particularly with regard to states where laws make unwitting criminals out of legal permit holders for a simple mistake of a wrong traffic turn. It safeguards a state’s right to determine their own laws while protecting the Second Amendment rights of all Americans. We thank Rep. Hudson for his leadership on behalf of America’s hunters and recreational shooters.”
The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) committed significant resources to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives before the outbreak of massive fires that devastated the Los Angeles area overnight.
The LAFD has implemented an internal “racial equity plan,” subjected employees to diversity training and is currently led by Chief Kristin Crowley, “the first female and LGBTQ Fire Chief in the LAFD” and a staunch supporter of the initiatives. As strong winds fed the wildfires on Tuesday evening, former Republican Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso reported that some fire hydrants were running low on water as the department scrambled to mobilize firefighters.
The department’s racial equity plan, adopted in 2021, asserts that the LAFD is a better firefighting organization for focusing on the demographic characteristics of its personnel.
“The strength of any organization rests in its greatest resource—its people; and LAFD leadership cannot accomplish any of the racial equity and inclusion goals without the employees to accomplish the work and embrace the vision while being guided by competent leadership,” the LAFD racial equity plan states. “It has been concluded and realized that the more talent, skills, perspectives, insight, knowledge, and abilities acquired through racial equity and inclusion, the stronger and more effective and competitive the organization has become.”
The LAFD evidently did not have adequate personnel on hand to mount an immediate and sufficient response to the devastating fires, indicated by the rare Tuesday night call to off-duty firefighters to report their availability. Some forecasts, including those issued by the National Interagency Fire Center and the California Office for Emergency Services, warned that Southern California was at high risk for serious fires before Tuesday’s events.
"They got notifications yesterday that their homes probably burned to the ground…but, the good news is, I'm a great-grandfather as of today."
And, with that, the press briefing with President Biden on the Los Angeles wildfires was concluded. pic.twitter.com/ws5WXXXKMD
In a brief with the news media Wednesday morning, officials said that the fires have claimed more than 1,000 buildings and caused serious injuries for civilians who did not evacuate hard-hit areas in time.
Shortly after taking over the top job at LAFD in 2022, Crowley made clear in a local news segment that one of her top priorities would be increasing the department’s diversity. In the interview, she suggested she does not look to meet specific demographic quotas in the department because there is “never enough” diversity.
Los Angeles County also posted an October 2024 video touting a one-day DEI planning event hosted by the Anti-Racism, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative, during which county leaders worked on ideas and plans to “realize a just and equitable LA County for all residents and all communities.” An official county website detailing its work with the Anti-Racism, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative states that the county “seeks to end structural racism and its consequences by working closely with all County departments, commissions, agencies, and advisory bodies to collaborate with all cities, unincorporated communities, school districts, state and federal agencies, community-based organizations, philanthropy and academic institutions.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, the fires were still out of control, consuming thousands of acres of land with the help of powerful wind gusts that have yet to subside.
The LAFD did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
A recently released reportby the City and Borough of Juneau provides insight into efforts to increase summertime revenues at Juneau’s city-owned ski area which would allow it to become financially self-supporting.
To be sure, there are some uncertainties associated with this endeavor, and assumptions and projections will need to be examined to determine their validity. However, the basic premise of counterbalancing the ski area’s subsidized winter operation with a profitable summer operation is realistic and achievable.
Historically, much of the concern about Eaglecrest has centered around their uneven financial performance which, in large part, is due to unpredictable weather and their chronically underfunded maintenance and replacement program. This is why the summer program is so vital. It would stabilize revenues, eventually precluding the need for ongoing subsidies, and fund a replacement reserve that will provide for dependable equipment and facility operation.
It’s generally unknown but Eaglecrest’s taxpayer-funded subsidies, while seemingly sizable, are at a level far below those enjoyed by the city’s other recreation facilities. For example, the combined proposed FY25 budget of the Treadwell Ice Rink ($1.0 million) and that of Aquatics, the city’s two swimming pools ($2.98 million), approximately equals that of Eaglecrest Ski Area ($4.2 million). Yet their subsidies are vastly different.
Treadwell Ice Rink anticipates recovering 43% of its expenditures through user fees and charges. Aquatics only projects recovering 23%. Their combined subsidy totals $2.85 million. Eaglecrest, in contrast, proposes to recoup 78% of its expenses in FY25 requiring a subsidy of $930,000. (Later revisions to Eaglecrest’s budget reflect a 66% recovery rate which is listed in the CBJ report).
In fact, as the city report explains, Eaglecrest has averaged an expense recovery since 1997 of 70%, a record that is unmatched by any other city owned recreation enterprise, and a tribute to fiscally vigilant Eaglecrest board members, management, and staff, past and present.
So, let’s give them (and the Juneau Assembly) credit for pursuing a plan to erase the remaining 30% subsidy.
There has been some controversy surrounding the city’s purchase of a used gondola as part of this effort. Yet, the subsequent $10 million investment in the project by Goldbelt, Inc, Juneau’s urban Native Corporation (well-versed in tourism operations and the owner/operator of the successful Mt. Roberts Tramway) indicates this can be a viable and profitable enterprise.
A summer operation model has been proven successful in other ski areas – even without the advantage Eaglecrest has, in a location where 1.5+ million cruise passengers disembark every summer.
Predictably, the installation cost of the gondola has ballooned over the initial budget estimates. Nevertheless, it appears that the costs will be contained within the total funds provided by Goldbelt assuming operations commence by the summer of 2027.
As envisioned, the gondola would transport visitors to the top of the ridge at Eaglecrest, offering the opportunity to experience spectacular vistas and hiking in a pristine subalpine forest.
The city’s report details a range of possible revenue options which would price gondola tickets at $45, $65, or $85. After adding bus transportation, cruise line commissions, and taxes, the tour could sell on a cruise ship for $118, $145, and $171.50, respectively. This compares favorably with other competing shore excursions offered by cruise lines. For example, the zipline adventure currently located at Eaglecrest is priced at $245 through the vendor’s website, markedly less than if purchased aboard a cruise ship.
Using the more conservative midrange estimate, Eaglecrest would reach operational breakeven in 2029 based on a projected summer visitation of 55,000 riders. This represents approximately 3% of cruise passengers and is well below the number of skiers that visit Eaglecrest during the winter season.
It is desirable and beneficial for city leaders to maximize utilization of the ski area in every way it can. This, not only to preserve a valuable city asset, but so thousands of residents and visitors alike can enjoy the health benefits and recreational opportunities that Eaglecrest provides.
Eaglecrest is on the cusp of achieving financial independence. Year-round operations and an expanded customer base can guarantee its future for many years to come.
After retiring as the senior vice president in charge of business banking for Key Bank in Alaska, Win Gruening became a regular opinion page columnist for the Juneau Empire. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970. He is involved in various local and statewide organizations.
As expected, the Bureau of Land Management received no bids for the congressionally mandated oil and gas lease sale for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The private sector apparently no longer trusts the Biden Administration to follow through.
The deadline to submit bids was Monday, Jan. 6. On Jan. 7, the State of Alaska sued the federal agency and the Department of Interior, saying the tracts were not viable and the Biden Administration was defying a congressional mandate.
“This is no surprise,” said Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska. “From Day 1, Joe Biden and Deb Haaland have sought to illegally shut down any chance of developing ANWR and have said as much. They and their eco-colonialist allies have made every effort to delay, and ultimately kill, any chance of successful ANWR lease sales and have canceled the voices of the Iñupiat Native people of Alaska in the process. This latest lease sale was yet another attempt to circumvent the federal law Congress passed and President Trump signed mandating two lease sales in ANWR. Closing off nearly 75 percent of the 1002 area, including lands that are projected to have substantial resources beneath them, is clearly an attempt to stymie interest from industry. Don’t forget: Companies had already witnessed the Biden-Harris administration brazenly and illegally cancel leases from the first sale.”
Sullivan continued on a hopeful note: “The good news is we will soon be working with the Trump administration which, unlike Biden-Harris, has a proven track record of responsible Alaska resource development, faithfully implementing the laws passed by Congress, and respecting the voices of the Iñupiat people of the North Slope who strongly support the ANWR leasing program. January 20th can’t come soon enough.”
Days before, the federal government took away a lease it had granted years ago in the Beaufort Sea. With a government that can make it impossible to develop mineral and petroleum resources, it comes as no surprise to industry observers that companies are now reluctant to take the risk.
Congressman Nick Begich III commented, “The federal government has behaved more like an adversary than an ally when it comes to responsible development in Alaska. Making a lease sale so uneconomic in its construction that no party is willing to place a bid is not evidence of a lack of interest, but rather it is evidence of a keen understanding that these lands under the current regime have not been offered in good faith.”
Begich said, “Alaskan lands should be in Alaskans’ hands, and I look forward to working with the Trump administration and my colleagues in the delegation to ensure greater self-determination of Alaska’s resources than has been available as of late.”
The expired deadline to submit bids concludes the second congressionally mandated sale required by the 2017 Tax Act, which directed the BLM to hold two lease sales in the Coastal Plain within seven years of enactment.
The first sale similarly demonstrated low interest, yielding a total of $14.4 million in high bids on 11 tracts.
Congress included the two lease sales in the Tax Act on the grounds that they would generate approximately $2 billion in revenue over 10 years.
Of the nine leases sold during the previous sale, the two held by oil companies were canceled and refunded at the request of the lessees. The remaining seven are held by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, but those were canceled by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland for what she said were “multiple legal deficiencies.”
There are currently no leases in the Coastal Plain, which was originally set aside for oil and gas. At statehood, Alaska was promised the right to develop revenue from oil and gas. President Jimmy Carter broke that promise by locking up massive amounts of the Arctic. Through the efforts of Sen. Ted Stevens and Congressman Don Young, the 1002 area was released from that lockup in the Alaska National Interest Lands and Conservation Act, so it could provide oil, gas, jobs, wealth, and revenue for the state.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy predicted this outcome back on Dec. 9, writing on X, “The Biden administration has cloaked its latest sanction on Alaska as a lease sale in ANWR. The truth is this lease sale is designed to fail. It limits exploration to the largest extent possible while trying to pass it off as following the law passed by Congress to offer leases that have a legitimate chance of success. The upside here is that in a matter of weeks the Trump administration will come into office and prioritize safe oil and gas development that provides stable and secure energy. Alaska’s four yearlong nightmare ends January 20th.”
In the Tax Act of 2017, Congress demanded that the BLM put leases up for bid, but what the federal government did was only put up nonviable tracts.
The Biden Administration on Jan. 8 has taken no responsibility for the failed leases, nor did it mention the fact that these leases are subject to a state lawsuit over the administration’s bad faith actions.
“The lack of interest from oil companies in development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge reflects what we and they have known all along – there are some places too special and sacred to put at risk with oil and gas drilling. This proposal was misguided in 2017, and it’s misguided now,” said Acting Deputy Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis, who came from the environmental industry’s National Wildlife Federation before joining the Biden Administration.“The BLM has followed the law and held two lease sales that have exposed the false promises made in the Tax Act. The oil and gas industry is sitting on millions of acres of undeveloped leases elsewhere; we’d suggest that’s a prudent place to start, rather than engage further in speculative leasing in one of the most spectacular places in the world.”
“The Arctic Refuge sustains people, wildlife and fish in the northeastern corner of Alaska, a vast landscape of rich cultural traditions and thriving ecological diversity. The lands and waters are a critical home to migratory and resident wildlife, have unique recreational values, and contain the largest designated Wilderness within the National Wildlife Refuge System. The Refuge is located on the traditional homelands of the Iñupiat people of the north and the Gwichʼin people of interior Alaska and Canada,” the Department of Interior wrote in a news release, deciding that it is now also responsible for the people of Canada.
Editor’s note: Details updated at end of original story.
In the Government Hill neighborhood of north Anchorage, an Anchorage Police officer shot someone just before 6 a.m. on Wednesday, police reported today.
The incident followed a bizarre crime scene in downtown Anchorage on Tuesday afternoon, during which a suspect was shot after he was believed to have bound the wrists and mouth of a female victim at a business and proceeded to try to rob an ATM. An officer intervened and the man, who had a gun, would not follow commands.
The second incident happened in the 700 block of Hollywood Drive, where a large police presence has gathered to investigate. This story will be updated as police release information.
Update: Six callers called starting at about 5:44 a.m. to the police 911 line, including four who called in at the same time, said Sean Case, police chief for the Anchorage Police Department. The callers said they heard shots fired around the 700 block of Hollywood Drive.
“There was a lot of information coming from different sources at the same time,” Case said, adding that it created a more complex situation.
Chief Case provided information that the police knew at the time the incident went down:
A female caller was inside the “victim location,” he said, which was a residence. She reportedly heard gunshots, and mentioned a bullet ricocheted or another object grazed her on the head. It was later determined she not need to go to the hospital.
A second caller called from outside the residence, reporting he heard gunshots.
A third caller was also inside the residence. This one was a male caller who heard gunshots and screaming, which he believed to be coming from the first caller, who was in another end of the house.
Meanwhile, the female was telling police dispatch that the house was being fired upon. She took cover and laid on the ground.
One of the callers observed a man with a long gun.
Officers arrived and contacted the three complainants. Another set of officers went to victim residence.
The two callers inside the house to police said they now heard smashing glass, and believed the shooter was trying to enter the home. Officers then observed the suspect with a long gun, but he disappeared around the residence.
At one point the male victim tried to exit the house and officers told him to go back inside, but he was shot by the suspect, and bullets struck him “multiple times.”
Officers then shot at the suspect and their bullets also hit him multiple times.
Chief Case called the scene chaotic and difficult to parse through since there was so much happening at once, and he would provide more details as they become known. He said the police actions were in the “heroic category,” since there was a victim being shot at by the perpetrator and police had to act quickly to save a life.
The suspect and victim were both transported to a hospital. Chief Case said they were both alive at the time, as far as he knew.
As of Wednesday, Mayor Suzanne LaFrance has not issued an apology to the active shooter for the actions take by police. In August, she issued an apology after police shot a dangerous person wielding a knife, and she opened up a third-party investigation into the police.
