An Anchorage police investigation into a reported burglary ended in a fatal shooting Thursday afternoon outside a south Anchorage toy store, leaving first responders performing chest compressions on a suspect who pulled a gun during a foot pursuit, according to an eyewitness and local authorities.
The sequence of events began unfolding shortly before 1:40 p.m. Thursday outside the Carrs grocery store parking lot on Huffman Road, alaskasnewssource.com reported. Derrick White, a witness at the scene, told Alaska’s News Source that officers approached him while searching for a stolen blue Kia Rio before swarm tactics quickly took over the area.
“Two of them went in one door, another one went through the door to the right of me,” White said. “Shortly after … officers started running back to their car and then they took off. And shortly — maybe a few seconds later, maybe not even a minute — that’s when you heard the gunshot.”
The Timeline From Lore Road to Industry Way
During a press briefing late Thursday, Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case mapped out the trajectory of the incident. The emergency actually originated hours earlier at approximately 10:05 a.m., following a reported burglary at a business located along Lore Road.
Investigators used surveillance footage from both the targeted Lore Road business and the interior of the Carrs grocery store to track the suspect. Police determined the individual had fled out the back doors of the grocery store into the surrounding neighborhood.
An officer finally located the suspect on foot around 1:40 p.m. in the 12000 block of Industry Way, just outside Over the Rainbow Toys. A brief physical struggle ensued.
According to Chief Case, the suspect pulled out a firearm and fired a single shot, which missed the officers. A second arriving officer returned fire, discharging one round and striking the suspect.
Witness Derrick White recounted hearing the exchange from nearby. “You heard, pow. And then a few seconds later, you heard another shot, pow,” White said. “And that’s when I asked the officer, was that gunshots? And he confirmed that it was gunshots.”
Aftermath and Ongoing Investigation
When White drove around toward Industry Way moments later, police had swarmed the storefront in front of Over the Rainbow Toys. First responders were actively administering chest compressions to the suspect on the pavement.
Despite immediate life-saving efforts by police and emergency medical personnel, the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. Chief Case confirmed that no police officers sustained injuries during the encounter.
Authorities have verified that the entire confrontation was captured on police body-worn cameras and dash cameras. Police have withheld the identity of the deceased suspect pending next of kin notification, and the specific identity of the business targeted in the initial morning burglary has not yet been publicly released.
The Anchorage Police Department plans to hold an updated press conference next week to share additional findings from the ongoing investigation.
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