Police release bodycam video of 21-year-old’s fatal shooting outside Anchorage senior center

Police have released body-camera footage from the officers involved in a shooting that killed a 21-year-old man outside the Anchorage Senior Activities Center in June.

The footage, released Thursday, comes more than a month after the state Office of Special Prosecutions determined the three officers who shot Tyler May would not face criminal charges. The review said the officers fired because they were afraid May would shoot them and were therefore justified in using such force.

May is one of seven people to be shot by Anchorage police since May. Four people have died. Most recently, a 16-year-old girl who police said was holding a knife was fatally shot by an officer.

Police on Thursday released a 13-minute edited version of the footage introduced by Chief Sean Case. The video includes audio of 911 calls, dispatchers communications with officers, and body-camera footage from five officers at the scene. Five additional videos contain redacted raw footage from each of their cameras.

The videos show police shooting May roughly 17 seconds after first seeing him. May can be seen putting his hands up and stopping when he encounters officers before he runs and is attacked by a police dog. Three officers fatally shoot him as he can be seen pulling a gun from his waistband.

As the Office of Special Prosecutions review described it, “May pulled the pistol out and pointed it in the direction of officers.” In the newly released footage, it is hard to see the weapon during the few seconds it’s visible. The edited video includes a magnified still image of May’s hands holding the gun, though not in firing position, but that image also does not clearly show what he was doing with the weapon.

Rich Curtner, chair of the Alaska Black Caucus’ Justice Committee, watched the footage last week with May’s mother Curtner, along with several members of the Alaska Coalition for Justice, when she viewed it prior to the official release.

Curtner on Friday described the shooting as an “unnecessary execution” and said the footage demonstrated how quickly police acted without any visible attempts at de-escalation.

“They have these assault rifles looking for they don’t know what, and a guy runs without making any threats, and then they shoot and they shoot to kill,” he said.

A statement Friday from the union representing police employees, however, said the footage provided an example of the department’s “professionalism and bravery” and showed “how well our officers handled a very dynamic situation, with many different layers.”

“They confronted two armed subjects, with two very different levels of compliance and non-compliance,” Anchorage Police Department Employees Association President Darrell Evans wrote in the emailed statement. “Their training and experience prevailed, dealing with each potential threat in the appropriate manner, with the appropriate level of force.”

Kaylep Olomua, who was with May that night, has said that May had been drinking and was emotional after an argument with his girlfriend.

In the edited video released this week, three separate 911 callers report being afraid because a man, later identified as May, fired a gun into the air and waved it around in the street. One describes him as appearing intoxicated, and one describes him as appearing “extremely distraught.”

The footage shows officers gathering at the senior center near a bench where May and Olomua are believed to be sitting. One reports hearing what might be the sound of someone racking a gun’s slide.

Olomua appears first in the footage and raises his hands as ordered by police. Then May comes out from behind a short wall. At first, his hands appear to be by the front of his pants, where police said he had a gun tucked. He quickly raises his empty hands into the air.

Officers can be heard yelling at him to stop, to drop the gun, and telling him “You will get shot!” May turns his back, with his hands still raised, and takes several steps away from officers.

Police at that point release a dog and May is seen running. In a matter of seconds, the dog takes him to the ground and May is heard screaming as the dog attacks him. The officers rush toward May and stand over him, guns drawn, as the dog continues to bite.

Several officers can be heard firing a rapid succession of bullets and May stops moving. Police said he died at the scene.

Olomua was detained that evening but released without being charged.