State finds police use of force justified in June fatal shooting outside Anchorage senior center

A state review released Thursday determined that the three police officers who fired at a 21-year-old man outside the Anchorage Senior Activities Center last month, killing him, were justified in using deadly force and will not face criminal charges.

The Office of Special Prosecutions investigation into the death of Tyler May was shared with Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case last Friday and publicly released Thursday. This is the second such report to be released after a series of shootings involving Anchorage police since May, leaving three people dead and two wounded.

The 20-page letter summarizing the findings of the review includes detailed descriptions of surveillance and body camera videos and interviews with officers and witnesses.

Sgt. Jesse Frey, Officer Isaac Kimball and Officer Nicholas Flechsing each said they were afraid May was going to shoot at them or their fellow officers before they fired at him.

The officers responded to three separate 911 calls around 9:30 p.m. June 3 that described a man, later identified as May, who had fired a gun and was screaming before he walked toward the senior center, the review said. One caller told police that May had “pulled a gun on children in the neighborhood and tried to take the children’s scooter,” it said.

Surveillance footage described in the report said May was seen arguing with a woman he knew who lived near the center and choking her. She later told investigators he indicated he was going to harm himself, the report said.

Police arrived at the senior center about three minutes after the first call, according to the state investigation. A man in a van flagged down Frey and told him two men with guns were walking toward the center, the report said. During later interviews, officers said they were concerned the men may have entered the senior center and could harm people nearby. One of the officers later said he questioned if there was a “possible active shooter situation,” according to the report.

The officers then saw a man who has since described himself as May’s close friend. He was ordered to sit and complied with their commands. The report said May then ran from behind a low wall of the building and into the parking lot.

May had a pistol in his right hand, which officers told him to drop, according to the report. He put the gun “in his front waistband, raised his hands above his shoulders and turned away from the officers,” it said. May continued running and police released a dog, which bit him in the upper back and knocked him to the ground, the report said.

The three officers approached as the dog bit May and he ended up with his back on the ground, the report said. May was “screaming in distress” as the dog bit him, according to body-camera footage described in the report.

“At that point, the officers saw May with his right hand inside the front of his pants and saw as May removed the pistol from his waistband,” the report said. “May pulled the pistol out and pointed it in the direction of officers.”

The three officers fired multiple times at May, striking and killing him.

Sixteen shell casings matching the officers’ rifles were recovered from the scene, according to the report.

The officers’ encounter with May, from the time he started running to the time he was shot, lasted about a minute, according to the review’s description of body-camera footage. All three officers who fired were on the scene together for only about two minutes before the shooting, the report found.

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

During interviews, the officers said they believed May was about to shoot at them when he raised the gun. Alaska law permits officers to use deadly force if they believe it’s necessary to prevent serious injury or death to themselves or others.

Kaylep Olomua, who was with May when he was shot, previously told the Daily News he was trying to help calm down May after an argument with his pregnant girlfriend. May had been drinking that night and was extremely emotional, he said.

The Office of Special Prosecutions last week released their review of the downtown Anchorage shooting that hospitalized 22-year-old Kaleb Bourdukofsky. The officers who shot him were found to be legally justified in their use of force. Bourdukofsky is accused of fatally shooting 25-year-old Diego Joe moments before he encountered police.

Anchorage police have not released body camera footage of the five shootings involving officers since May. Previous Anchorage Police Department chief designee Bianca Cross cited a Department of Law practice that instructed law enforcement agencies not to release such videos because it could jeopardize court cases.

Chief Case said last week that footage of the first shooting would likely be available within a week, and that the department is working to produce footage of the other shootings. Case also changed policy so that footage of police shootings will be publicly released within 45 days. The policy was finalized Monday.