Shots fired, 1 man dead in South Anchorage

Anchorage police said they found one man dead when they responded to reports of shots fired Tuesday afternoon in a car lot near 74th Avenue and the Old Seward Highway.

Police said they responded to the car lot at 3:09 p.m. Tuesday. At 3:26 p.m., police took a suspect into custody. The suspect was apprehended "a short distance away," according to an Anchorage Police Department statement.

Officers secured two scenes along the Old Seward following the shooting.

Crime-scene tape blocked the entrance to TreJohn Auto Sales on the corner of the Anchorage thoroughfare and 74th Avenue, and several APD vehicles were parked outside of American Tire several blocks up Old Seward.

An on-scene officer described the two scenes as "related" but declined to provide additional information.

In the area around the car dealership, officers appeared to be looking for evidence behind a strip mall. One of the officers looked on the ground and opened dumpsters.

Kelly Nelson, manager of Alaska 4-Wheel Drive in the strip mall across the street from the car dealership, said he was at the front desk of the office before officers arrived, but did not hear or see anything before multiple patrol cars swarmed the lot.

Within minutes the police vehicles headed south through the strip mall's parking lot and on Old Seward, Nelson said.

Officers surrounded an individual on the sidewalk outside the tire business, said employee Brandon Moore. That person lay on the ground as officers approached with guns drawn, he said.

APD spokeswoman Renee Oistad said police are officially investigating the fatal shooting as a homicide.

Not including Tuesday's shooting, there have been 28 homicide victims in Anchorage this year, Oistad said. The numbers provided by APD don't include at least three people killed by police officers in shootings.

The record of 29 homicide victims was set in 1995, when the city had about 50,000 fewer residents than today.

Tegan Hanlon contributed to this report.