Police ID 58-year-old woman who died during standoff at East Anchorage home

Anchorage police on Saturday identified Lisa M. Fordyce-Blair as the woman who died early Thursday after a standoff with officers that involved gunfire.

Fordyce-Blair, 58, fired multiple shots inside her home before a SWAT officer “discharged their weapon from outside,” police said. She was found dead inside the home, they said. It wasn’t clear whether the officer shot her, and police did not answer additional questions about the encounter this week.

Officers were called to the 7400 block of East 20th Avenue on Wednesday afternoon because a neighbor reported that Fordyce-Blair had yelled, while holding a hunting rifle, at him and his child while they were doing lawn work, according to a sworn criminal complaint written by a responding officer. The neighbor feared she would shoot him and his child, the complaint said.

Fordyce-Blair was inside her home and refused to come out when officers arrived, according to police.

SWAT officers, along with police assigned to the crisis negotiation and mobile intervention teams responded to serve a warrant that had been issued for third-degree assault, police said.

Officers made “multiple attempts” to contact Fordyce-Blair and eventually deployed gas into her home, police said. She fired multiple shots inside, they said.

A SWAT officer fired from outside and when police entered, they found Fordyce-Blair dead, they said. A police spokeswoman this week did not answer questions about whether Fordyce-Blair was shot by the officer. Police have said they’re investigating the case as an officer-involved shooting.

The medical examiner will determine Fordyce-Blair’s cause of death, police said. Procedures for notifying her next of kin have been completed, police said Saturday.

This is the fourth time since mid-May that Anchorage police officers have fired on someone. The three prior shootings left two men dead and a third hospitalized.

Tyler May, 21, died June 3 when he was shot and killed during a confrontation with police in a Fairview parking lot. Two days earlier, officers shot and wounded 22-year-old Kaleb Bourdukofsky as he fled after opening fire into a crowd downtown early in the morning, killing a 25-year-old man and injuring another, police said. Anchorage police officers shot and killed 34-year-old Kristopher Handy outside a West Anchorage apartment building on May 13. Police said he raised a gun toward them.

The string of shootings mark the first in which police were wearing body cameras. Anchorage Police Chief Designee Bianca Cross has repeatedly said she will not release footage of the shootings, despite the department policy allowing her to do so, until the Office of Special Prosecutions completes an investigation that determines whether criminal charges are warranted. That investigation could take months.

Cross’ decision has sparked public outcry advocating for the release of body-camera footage.

[Related: In a moment, an emotional night turned deadly: June 3 Anchorage police shooting was 6th death since 2020]