A 13-year-old boy died of a gunshot wound in Barrow Tuesday afternoon, police said.
About 3:40 p.m., the North Slope Borough Police Department received a report that the teen had shot himself at 5210 Karluk Street. Officers who responded found the boy dead of an apparent gunshot wound to the head.
An initial investigation suggested he may have been accidentally shot by another juvenile, Barrow police said in a statement. A police spokesman, Darryl E. Holman, declined to answer further questions Wednesday afternoon.
In a separate incident in Barrow on Tuesday, police engaged in a 6-hour standoff with an adult man who was threatening to shoot himself.
According to a Wednesday statement, officers responded about 2:45 p.m. to 5273 Karluk Street to a report of a suicidal person. Police established contact with the man and, after 6 hours, safely took him into protective custody. Calls to authorities for comment Tuesday evening and Wednesday were not returned.
The news of a young man's death, combined with the commotion of the standoff, left Barrow residents confused as to what happened and if anyone had been hurt.
Early Wednesday morning, the pastor with the local Utqiagvik Presbyterian Church, Duke Morrow, described the events as "totally out of the ordinary."
"It shakes everybody up," he said.
Reach Devin Kelly at dkelly@adn.com or 257-4314.
By DEVIN KELLY