Anchorage police identify man killed at homeless camp

Anchorage police on Monday identified 48-year-old Carl Washington as the person who was fatally shot last week at a homeless camp just off a busy stretch of East Fifth Avenue.

The department has not publicly named the man suspected of shooting Washington. That man shot at officers while they tried to arrest him Friday and was subsequently wounded during an exchange of gunfire, police said.

Few details were available Monday about either shooting. A spokeswoman for the department did not answer additional questions.

The shooting occurred Thursday morning at a camp near Karluk Street. Officers responding to reports of a shooting found a man later identified as Washington dead, with a gunshot wound to his upper body, police said. They circulated a photo of the man riding a bicycle but made no arrests.

The person police identified as the suspect was shot by officers responding Friday to reports of an armed man on a bicycle threatening three people, Chief Sean Case said during a media briefing Friday night.

The man fled on a bicycle when officers arrived, and they caught up with him and one officer ordered him to drop his gun, Case said. He fired at least one round toward another officer and a civilian vehicle, according to the chief. The first officer fired and the suspect fell to the ground, where he fired additional rounds and was shot again by police, the department said.

The man had injuries police described as life-threatening and was brought to a hospital. Spokeswoman Renee Oistad said there were no updates on his condition Monday.