A man was shot and killed by an Anchorage police officer Sunday evening after the man ran at the officer with a knife, police said.
It was the fifth fatal shooting by an Anchorage police officer this year.
According to a summary posted by police online, officers were called to the 500 block of North Park Street in the Mountain View neighborhood at 7:12 p.m. after a man called 911 saying there was an emergency and that someone was hurt.
“One officer arrived near the scene and was waiting on backup,” police said in the summary. “Additional officers were en route along with Mobile Intervention Team (MIT) when an adult male suspect holding a knife began to approach the officer.”
“The officer backed away and directed the suspect to drop his weapon. However, the suspect continued to move toward the officer with the knife, eventually running at the officer. The officer discharged their weapon striking the suspect in the upper body at least once.”
The man was declared dead at a hospital, police said.
No one else was injured, they said.
The officer wasn’t immediately identified. The shooting was captured on the officer’s body-worn camera and by a patrol vehicle dash camera, police said.
Police Chief Sean Case, in a late-night news conference, said the officer was waiting for backup to arrive when the man with a knife approached.
“The officer exited his vehicle and immediately started giving commands and backing away from the subject,” Case said. “...This puts officers in a challenging situation. I can’t highlight enough how important it is that people respond to commands that officers give so these tragedies don’t occur.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Earlier coverage: Since 2000, Anchorage police have killed 34 people. Here’s what we know about the fatal encounters, and why the department is doing its own analysis.