Man fatally shoots son-in-law during dispute in East Anchorage, police say

A man was arrested on murder charges after he fatally shot his son-in-law late Tuesday during a dispute on an East Anchorage street, police say.

Officers arrested Valu Valu Jr., 55, in the death of 31-year-old Tino Faualo. Faualo died at a hospital after the shooting, which was first reported just before 10 p.m. Tuesday on the 5400 block of Camelot Drive, near Boniface Parkway, according to the Anchorage Police Department.

"The caller told police that her husband had just threatened her with a gun and that a disturbance amongst family members was now occurring in the street," police wrote in a Wednesday morning statement. "Moments later, a witness called police stating that shots had been fired outside the female victims's residence and her husband had left with a friend in a vehicle."

Faualo was taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound to his chest. Upon further investigation, officers learned Faualo and his wife had a verbal dispute in which he had "threatened his wife with a gun," police said in the statement.

"The woman called her father, Valu Valu Jr., to tell him of the incident," police wrote. "Valu Valu Jr. drove to his daughter's home and confronted Faualo in the driveway."

During that confrontation, Valu shot Faualo, police said. The rear window of the vehicle that drove Faualo to the hospital was also shot out, according to charging documents in the case.

APD spokesperson Anita Shell said Faualo was pronounced dead within half an hour of the report that he had arrived at the hospital. No details were immediately available on what prompted the initial argument between Faualo and his wife, but Shell said Valu remained at the residence after the shooting.

"It looks like he was on scene when the officers arrived," Shell said.
APD Detective James Trull said in a criminal complaint against Valu that the first call from Faualo's wife reporting the dispute came into dispatch just before 10 p.m. She initially hung up.

"Upon recall the complainant reported her husband had a gun to her head. The husband was reported to be Tino Faualo," Trull wrote.

Responding officers were informed that shots may have been fired at the scene. They found a Dodge pickup registered to Valu in the home's driveway, alongside broken glass on the ground and at least one shell casing "similar to that from a handgun round."

Faualo's wife told investigators she saw Valu fire a gun while sitting in the passenger seat of the truck, Trull wrote; Valu's sister also told detectives she'd seen her brother with a handgun.

In an interview with police, Valu said he was aware of "a long history of domestic violence" against his daughter, and when she called him she said Faualo had "pointed a gun at her head again," Trull wrote.

According to the complaint, Valu said he hadn't seen Faualo carrying a gun at the scene. He admitted wanting to "punch or slap him in the face," but denied shooting him despite his sister's and daughter's statements, the complaint said.

Trull said another daughter of Valu's later told police she and her boyfriend were in the pickup during the shooting, where she saw Valu fire out the driver's window from the front passenger seat, then give the handgun to Faualo's wife.

The boyfriend corroborated that account of the shooting to police, but Valu's wife declined to give a statement.

Valu faces charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter, weapons misconduct and evidence tampering in the shooting. He was taken to the Anchorage Correctional Complex, where he was arraigned Wednesday afternoon; his initial bail was set at $100,000, with a court-approved third-party custodian required for his release.

At the brief initial court hearing, Valu told the judge he was not working, and he was supporting himself with unemployment checks. Appearing distraught at times, Valu answered the judge's questions with "Yes, sir."

A handful of Valu's family attended the hearing. They declined to speak with reporters.

Valu's criminal record includes a guilty plea to an October 2009 count of misdemeanor assault, after prosecutors dropped and reduced felony assault counts in that case.

Valu punched a 16-year-old family member, hit her with a chair and brandished a steak knife, according to an information affidavit filed in the 2009 case. The victim suffered head injuries and a broken wrist. She had jumped out of a second-story window in an attempt to escape Valu, the affidavit says.

In a 2005 case, Valu was convicted of fourth-degree assault for poking and headbutting someone, according to the charges.

Faualo's death marks Anchorage's 30th homicide of 2016, the city's highest tally in at least 20 years. Anchorage recorded 29 homicides in 1995.

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Alaska Dispatch News reporter Jerzy Shedlock contributed to this report.