:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/adn/U4H6MBTSRVCCXHPGSPS2R3D6K4.JPG)
A procession of emergency vehicles traveled through Anchorage with the body of Court Services Officer Curtis Worland on Wednesday evening. The 36-year-old died Tuesday after a rare attack by a musk ox in Nome, where Worland worked for the Department of Public Safety for 13 years.
The body was transported from the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to the State Medical Examiner’s Office on the east side of the city.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/adn/SFNPGM35TVB6JEXKFVE4DBQ64I.JPG)
The fatal incident happened on Worland’s property during a paid break in the work day, and as such the state considers his death to have happened in the line of duty. According to the Department of Public Safety, Worland “is the 69th Alaska law enforcement officer to die in the line of duty,” and the first Court Service Officer to be killed during duty.
On Wednesday, the department also released more details about the incident. Midday Tuesday, troopers in Nome and members of the Nome Volunteer Fire Department responded to a citizen’s report that Worland was injured close to his property along the Teller Highway, which travels west out of town. They found him dead with a serious leg wound.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/adn/EROX3YLMHBHWHJJO3HWGPA3VJ4.JPG)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/adn/RQ5LGJOMYBF4HBEJX6ZGZLN57M.JPG)
“Further investigation by first responders revealed that CSO Worland was alone operating a personally owned snowmachine while attempting to haze a group of musk oxen from the area near his dog lot. At some point, a musk ox attacked CSO Worland, and the musk ox’s horns produced a fatal injury,” the department said in a written statement.
Worland fired his service weapon multiple times, the department said, though it is not clear any bullets struck an animal.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/adn/KHY5BJAONZCONJ4LE5BP6MT4P4.JPG)
“The Alaska Department of Fish and Game in coordination with the Alaska Wildlife Troopers have determined that the muskox that attacked CSO Worland is a public safety threat to the community, and it will be dispatched once located,” the department said. “Efforts to find the muskox are ongoing.”
Though musk oxen are known to attack dogs, according to the state’s Wednesday release, Worland’s death “is the first fatal muskox attack in the Nome area that Troopers are aware of.”