A 19-year-old man shot at a Jeep filled with teenagers Friday night in Northeast Anchorage and struck a 13-year-old girl in the head, critically injuring her, charging documents say.
Four teens have been arrested and charged in connection with the shooting. The girl was still hospitalized Monday with life-threatening injuries, according to a criminal information charging document signed by Assistant District Attorney Daniel Shorey.
The girl who was shot had reportedly been arguing with a 16-year-old cousin over a boy, the charges said. On Friday, one of her friends had been messaging with the boy to arrange a meeting with the girl, the charges said.
A 21-year-old man driving a Jeep picked up eight teens, including the victim, according to the charges. The group arranged to meet the others at an address on North Bliss Street.
“Witnesses on scene stated that they had observed a grey truck approach a Jeep ... and that they heard one or two gunshots,” Assistant District Attorney Laura Jungreis wrote in a criminal information charging document filed in the case.
Police were called to the area at 7:38 p.m., the department said. Officers found the 13-year-old girl with a gunshot wound to her head and she was brought to Providence Alaska Medical Center, charges said. Another teen had injuries from bullet fragments, Shorey wrote.
Police interviewed witnesses and said they identified four people as suspects. Officers located three of the suspects by the early hours of Saturday and arrested Sammy Phanhly and Michael Patrick, both 18. A 14-year-old was eventually charged and remanded to McLaughlin Youth Center.
According to the charges, they told police they’d picked up a friend, 19-year-old Bernard Jordan, after school Friday. Patrick was driving and they eventually headed to the meeting site on Bliss Street, the charges said. The other girl reportedly involved in the argument was not in the vehicle.
Jordan fired twice at the Jeep from the backseat of the truck using a weapon described as looking like an AR-15 style rifle, the charges said.
Police located Jordan on Sunday and arrested him. Jordan, Phahly and Patrick are each facing felony charges of first-degree assault, misconduct involving weapons, eight counts of third-degree assault and a misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment. Because the fourth teen is a minor, details are not publicly available about charges filed against him.