Anchorage police say what was initially reported as a shooting in Spenard late Thursday was an encounter that led a homeowner to fire on a suspicious man.
Police spokesperson Renee Oistad said there were no reports of anyone being injured in the incident, reported by numerous residents on the 900 block of West 27th Avenue just before 9:30 p.m.
According to Oistad, the incident began when an armed homeowner in the area noticed that an umbrella of his, which he had left hanging on a fence, was gone.
"The homeowner then noticed a man standing across the street wearing a mask and holding an umbrella," Oistad wrote in a Friday statement on the incident. "The homeowner asked the man if the umbrella was his. The masked man replied, 'It is now,' and then pulled a gun on the homeowner."
After retreating to cover and noticing that the man was still pointing a gun at him, the homeowner pulled out his own gun and fired several shots at the suspect -- who then ran away. Police formed a perimeter around the area for about an hour as they attempted a K-9 track of the suspect, which Oistad said failed due to heavy pedestrian traffic in the area.
Oistad said Friday that the homeowner's description of the still-at-large suspect wasn't much more specific than that provided in the statement.
"It's very vague so it's nothing that we would release," Oistad said.
Officers at the scene didn't receive any reports of shots penetrating occupied vehicles or homes in the area.
Anyone with information on the incident should call APD at 786-8900.