Charges: Suspect in stabbing of Anchorage officer said he had 'nothing to lose'

The Anchorage Police Department officer stabbed and wounded in a violent encounter at a Muldoon grocery store early Wednesday was out of the hospital Thursday, as the suspect in the case was arraigned.

Charging documents in the case identify officer Christopher Zenyuch, a graduate of APD's December academy, as the man injured taking Armando Antonio Walker into custody outside the Carrs/Safeway grocery store on Muldoon Road. A woman who had a prior relationship with Walker was also stabbed in the incident.

Walker, 27, is charged with attempted murder and assault in the Wednesday case. He also faces assault and criminal-mischief charges for a Jan. 24 incident in which he is accused of attacking the same woman and her daughter.

APD spokeswoman Renee Oistad didn't have an update on the woman's condition Thursday, but said Zenyuch was off-duty for the day.

According to the criminal complaint against Walker written by APD Detective Scott Niwa, the woman told police she had been putting groceries into her car outside the store at Muldoon Road and Northern Lights Boulevard when Walker arrived and got into the vehicle. She went into the store rather than get into the car with him, and Walker followed her inside, the complaint said.

Store employees later told officers they saw Walker pushing and pulling the woman, at one point telling her that "she was putting everyone's lives in jeopardy," Niwa wrote.

Police were called to the store just before 12:10 a.m. Wednesday by an employee, who said a man was dragging a woman out of the building.

"The caller also reported the male was saying he wanted to kill the female and he didn't care who he killed because 'he has nothing to lose,' " Niwa wrote.

Walker was initially approached by an APD officer and a plainclothes detective as he walked out of the store. Niwa said Walker refused requests from the officer to stop or lie down. When Walker tried to run away, a bystander was able to slow him down.

That's when Walker got into a struggle with the officer and detective, who weren't able to secure him until two more patrol officers arrived.

"During the struggle, (Walker) was seen reaching around his coat pocket/waistband and punching at (Zenyuch's) head," Niwa wrote.

Zenyuch was treated and released Wednesday for a cut to his left hand and a 3-inch-deep puncture wound to his chest, below the left armpit, according to Niwa. Walker had one knife on his belt when he was arrested, the charging document said; police also found a bloodied dagger at the scene of the fight.

The woman told police Walker had hit her, but didn't realize she'd been stabbed — also on the left side of her chest below the armpit — until she visited APD headquarters for an interview, the complaint said. Medics took her to a hospital, where Niwa said she was diagnosed with a punctured left lung and internal bleeding.

Walker was arraigned on the attempted-murder charges at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.