With a clear blue sky and temperatures pushing the 70-degree mark, Friday, May 2 should have been remembered as an unusually perfect day in Alaska's largest city. But it was far from perfect. A long line of Alaska State Troopers, Anchorage police, and other law enforcement vehicles slowly drove through the city's center escorting the bodies of two Alaska State Troopers slain a day earlier 281 miles away in the village of Tanana. A solemn and hasty press conference was held at the site of the Alaska Peace Officer Memorial. About a half a mile away, at the State Medical Examiner's Office, the bodies of Trooper Sergeant Patrick "Scott" Johnson and Trooper Gabriel Rich arrived for autopsies.
Alaska State Trooper Colonel Janes Cockrell laid out the events that cast such a somber mood across Alaska, and across the nation.
Cockrell said it all began Wednesday night, April 30. Troopers say that's when Tanana village public safety officer Mark Haglin was called to a local residence on a report that Arvin Kangas, 58, was arguing with a Tanana woman over a sofa he had sold to the woman's sister. The woman told Haglin that Kangas had "become profane" toward her before driving away on his ATV. She suspected he might have been drunk. When Haglin approached Kangas, troopers said, the man threatened the VPSO. It was then, troopers said, Haglin decided to call for troopers to be flown in from Fairbanks to help with Kangas' arrest. Folger said Haglin backed off from Kangas and told him to stop driving and go inside his home.
A little while later, Haglin was again told that Kangas was driving drunk. While driving past Kangas' home, troopers said, the VPSO saw Kangas pointing a shotgun at him.
The next day, at about 2:45 p.m., troopers Johnson and Rich arrived in the village from Fairbanks, 130 miles to the east. The two men were experienced officers working with the department's Rural Division, a group of about 400 Alaska State Troopers who handle law enforcement in mostly roadless areas across the 49th state.
Arrest on a porch leads to two deaths
Cockrell said troopers Johnson and Rich met Kangas on the porch of his home. A struggle ensued as the men tried to arrest Kangas, and Cockrell said all three men fell through the doorway into the small log home. That's when Cockrell said Kangas' son, 19-year-old Nathanial "Sach" Kangas, opened fire with a semiautomatic rifle. The elder Kangas fled to a neighboring home; he was arrested hours later after a standoff with troopers who responded to the scene after the shooting. Cockrell said Nathanial Kangas was in custody, sitting in the back of VPSO Haglin's car, within 15 minutes of the shootings.
It remains unclear how the younger Kangas was arrested, or even who took him into custody.
Answering questions from reporters before catching a flight back to Juneau, Cockrell said he did not believe either trooper was able to fire back during the incident. Cockrell said VPSO Haglin told troopers initially that one trooper was dead and another might be dead just after the shooting.
There are two teams of troopers currently in Tanana -- one each from Anchorage and Fairbanks -- as the investigation into the shooting deaths continues.
Nathanial Kangas will be arraigned Saturday at the Fairbanks courthouse in room 102 at 1:30 p.m. He will likely be facing two charges of first-degree murder and one count of assault, according to Cockrell. Kangas will be appearing via video feed from the Fairbanks Correctional Complex, where he is currently being held. His father, Arvin Kangas, will also be charged.
As the investigation into the deaths continues, troopers said they are focusing on the families of the two slain officers. Details of when and where memorial services will be held will be released after they are discussed with the men's families. But the loss is being felt across the ranks of the troopers.
"In times like this I am often reminded of a quote attributed to Edmund Burke: 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,'" Alaska Department of Public Safety Commissioner Gary Folger said. "Yesterday, May 1, we lost two good men."
Two Wells Fargo bank accounts have been set up to support Johnson's and Rich's families, with all donations going to the families. Sergeant Scott Johnson Memorial Fund's account number is 6157331387. Trooper Gabe Rich Memorial Fund's account number is 6157331379.