Anchorage police say no arrests have been made after a person was wounded by gunfire near the University Lake Park trail system.
Officers responded just after 10:45 p.m. Monday to the area in response to reports of shots fired, police said in an online release. “Upon arrival, officers learned that multiple shots were fired near the trail system. One person self-admitted to a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries and is reported to be in stable condition.”
Nikolai Avalnun, a Gambell resident who was smoking outside patient housing at the Alaska Native Medical Center near the trails on Monday night, said Tuesday that the shooter fired at him and another man.
The men heard someone calling for help from the woods and the other man went to check on that person, Avalnun said. The other man had taken maybe 10 steps when “the shooter took aim and started shooting,” Avalnun wrote in a message. “He shot so fast and they hit all around us.”
Bullets whizzed by his head and hit the ground as Avalnun ran, he said. “First time I feel the air pressure of bullets on my hair.”
Avalnun said he did not recognize the man with the weapon.
“He called for help and then he aimed at us,” Avalnun said.
Avalnun said the man who was wounded late Monday was doing well on Tuesday. “He was able to run away with a bullet wound,” he said.
The two men had just met, he said. “But we’re real close now”
Police department spokeswoman Shelly Wozniak did not answer questions about the shooting or any arrests made Tuesday morning but said there would be an update at 10 a.m.
University of Alaska Anchorage police issued an alert about a “possible shooting” at the Alaska Native Medical Center campus just after midnight. The alert described the suspect as a man wearing all black with a camouflage brim hat. The university announced the situation had resolved before 5 a.m.
The incident also triggered a lockdown at Alaska Native Medical Center that was lifted by around 3 a.m. Tuesday, a hospital representative said.
Anchorage patrol officers searched University Lake Park and adjacent trails on foot and also used drones to search the area, police said. They said special operations units including SWAT, crisis negotiation and Mobile Intervention Team units responded to the area just after 12:15 a.m.
An update just before 2:45 a.m. said officers had broken down the perimeter and detectives would continue to process the scene.
The search was over by early Tuesday morning, according to a dispatch supervisor. Officers and investigators attached to the call had returned to the station, she said.
Police asked anyone with surveillance footage of the area or other information regarding the shooting investigation who has not yet spoken to officers to call APD Dispatch at 3-1-1 (option #1) or 907-786-8900 (option #0). Anonymous tips can be submitted online at Crime Stoppers.
This is a developing story and will be updated.