State finds police use of force justified in downtown Anchorage shooting

A state review has found the use of force by two Anchorage police officers was justified when they shot and wounded a man accused of killing someone in a crowded downtown Anchorage parking lot last month.

The review, shared with Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case in an 11-page letter analyzing the June 1 encounter behind the Pioneer Bar, describes 22-year-old Kaleb Bourdukofsky as being shot six times while running from the officers with both arms raised.

It also indicates that one of the officer’s body-worn cameras didn’t work properly.

The review marks the first of numerous lethal force investigations to conclude after an unusual spate of police shootings over eight weeks — all after officers began wearing cameras in March.

The incident was one of five police shootings since mid-May that have resulted in the deaths of three people and left another two people injured. All are being investigated by the state Office of Special Prosecutions, which reviews police shootings to see if criminal charges against the officers are warranted.

Anchorage police have refused to release bodycam footage from any of the shootings, citing an Alaska Department of Law practice of instructing law enforcement agencies not to release videos that could jeopardize court cases. Case last week unveiled a draft policy including new provisions for release.

In the June incident, Bourdukofsky is accused of fatally shooting 25-year-old Diego Joe in the parking lot and injuring another man before fleeing. Bourdukofsky was being escorted out of the Pioneer Bar when Joe punched him in the face and the men fought before Bourdukofsky shot Joe, according to charges filed in the case. Another man was shot in the leg.

The two officers fired on Bourdukofsky 66 seconds after he fired his own weapon, according to the letter summarizing the results of the investigation. Both officers said he ignored instructions to drop the weapon.

He survived and faces murder charges.

The Office of Special Prosecutions found the officers “were justified in using deadly force to stop Bourdukofsky as they reasonably believed Bourdukofsky posed an imminent threat of endangering life or inflicting serious physical injury upon others unless he was stopped or arrested without delay.”

Officer Parker Boydston’s body-worn camera functioned normally, but officer Jordan Varak said his camera didn’t automatically activate, and he didn’t realize that until after the shooting when he turned it on, the letter said. The video quality is noticeably lower and there’s no audio, it said.

Both officers were already headed to the area of the parking lot behind the Pioneer and Gaslight bars as part of routine bar break patrols, according to the state review.

Boydston said he heard gunfire, saw people “hunched over and sprinting” across H Street, and saw someone later identified as Bourdukofsky running along parked vehicles toward West Third Avenue, according to the review. Varak described hearing 10 or 15 shots and people screaming and saw Bourdukofsky holding a pistol with an extended magazine, the review said.

Bourdukofsky approached a white sedan before he ran into someone, dropped the weapon, and stopped to pick it up, ignoring instructions to drop the gun and continuing to flee, the letter said. Surveillance video also showed him with both arms raised as he continued to run, it said.

Both officers said they fired as Bourdukofsky ran past the corner of West Third Avenue where a building could have offered him cover while the officers remained out in the open, the state’s review said. They also mentioned the presence of numerous civilians in the area.

An Anchorage Fire Department report said Bourdukofsky was shot once in the right bicep; once in the left shoulder; twice in the upper back; once under the right arm; and once in the upper left hamstring.

Alaska law authorizes officers to use force if they believe it necessary to prevent serious physical injury or death to themselves or others, according to state law officials.

The Office of Special Prosecutions has not yet released the results of other use-of-force investigations including a May 13 shooting during which four officers fired on 34-year-old Kristopher Handy, killing him. Home surveillance video released at the time has raised questions about initial accounts from police that Handy “raised a long gun” during the encounter.

In an update provided by the Department of Law on Wednesday, officials said they received the autopsy and ballistics reports in the investigation into Handy’s shooting on Tuesday and hoped to release findings within a few weeks.

Law officials say they are still waiting for autopsy results from a June 3 shooting that killed 21-year-old Tyler May, autopsy and ballistics reports from a June 19 shooting that killed 58-year-old Lisa Fordyce-Blair, and information including police and ballistics reports in a July 8 shooting that wounded 51-year-old Damien Dollison.