A man described by Anchorage police as a "person of interest" in a shooting that left a person dead Wednesday was taken into custody on an unrelated charge Thursday, after police got word he was at the hotel where the shooting occurred.
Anchorage police spokeswoman Renee Oistad said officers arrested 21-year-old Chaz Shanigan on the 2900 block of Will Rogers Place, about a block north of Wednesday's homicide scene at the Executive Suites hotel on Spenard Road. Police dispatchers said Shanigan was taken into custody at about 9:20 a.m. as officers served an arrest warrant.
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Shanigan had been sought as an escapee from the Cordova Center halfway house on Feb. 17.
Police also said they wanted to speak with Shanigan after Wednesday's shooting at the Executive Suites. According to investigators, the shooting victim jumped out of an upper-floor window at the hotel and got into an SUV, which was then driven to the adjacent McDonald's restaurant on Spenard.
The victim tried to get out of the vehicle, but was found dead by police shortly after the incident was reported at 5:15 a.m.
Police spokeswoman Renee Oistad said in an email that Shanigan's arrest was a result of a tip Thursday morning, indicating that he was "back at the Executive Suites." Some of the officers who responded were members of APD's SWAT team, but no general SWAT callout was made.
Officers had to briefly chase Shanigan, Oistad said, when he left the building as they were preparing to contact him.
"Shanigan ran from the hotel; officers located him within three minutes," Oistad wrote. Shanigan was unarmed, she said.
Shanigan was taken to APD headquarters to be questioned regarding Wednesday's homicide investigation. Oistad said he wasn't held on any charges beyond the escape warrant, and was still considered only a person of interest in the homicide Thursday morning.