East Anchorage standoff suspect shot 2 people waiting to pick up children near school, charges say

The two people shot by a man involved in an armed standoff in East Anchorage on Monday were waiting to pick up their children near an East Anchorage school when the confrontation occurred, according to charges filed in the case.

Jalen Baker, 23, is also accused of shooting a police officer during the hourslong standoff at a mobile home park off Muldoon Road during which he hid in a crawl space, according to the charges. All three were taken to the hospital for treatment of their gunshot wounds, police said.

Baker was charged with three counts of first-degree assault and one count each of third-degree assault, second- and third-degree misconduct involving a weapon and reckless endangerment. He has refused to appear for three court hearings scheduled this week. He is scheduled again to appear in court Friday.

Baker did not know the two people he shot Monday morning at Creekside Park, Police Chief Sean Case has said. The man and woman were waiting around 11:30 a.m. at the park just west of Creekside Park Elementary School to pick up their children, according to a summary of police reports written by Assistant District Attorney Kaila Hurley and attached with the charges.

Both parents work as officers for the Department of Corrections, but were not in uniform at the time of the shooting, the summary said.

A man later identified as Baker approached the vehicle and asked if the people inside had a Mountain Dew soda, the summary said. He shot them multiple times at point-blank range after they said they did not have anything to drink, it said.

The woman called 911 and both were taken to Providence Alaska Medical Center with gunshot wounds, the summary said. The woman was shot in her right arm and chest and the man was shot in his left shoulder and had bullet fragments in his abdomen, the summary said.

Separately, a woman who met Baker the day before the shooting later told police he threatened her with a gun on Monday and had also pointed it at the back of a teenager, the summary said. She told investigators that at one point, Baker asked her if she “wanted to go on a killing spree,” according to the summary.

After the shooting, Baker fled to the mobile home park and hid in a crawl space beneath one of the homes, the summary said. Police called SWAT officers and a police dog to the scene and Baker shot one of the officers in the leg, the summary said.

A large law enforcement presence responded to the area, including police, SWAT members, Alaska State Troopers, along with medics and firefighters. Officers fired less-lethal projectiles toward the home and deployed chemical agents, and eventually Baker came out of hiding and was arrested, the summary said.

Police did not use lethal force during the standoff, Case said.

Several schools in the area, including Creekside Park Elementary, enacted safety protocols after the two people were shot and did not release students and instead asked parents to pick them up individually.