Anchorage police fire on man as he shoots homeowner in Government Hill

Anchorage police say two officers shot a man as he opened fire on a homeowner at a duplex in the Government Hill neighborhood early Wednesday.

Both the shooting suspect and the homeowner survived and are hospitalized.

The shooting is the second involving police officers in less than 24 hours. On Tuesday afternoon, an Anchorage officer shot and wounded a man suspected to be involved in a robbery in Midtown.

Wednesday’s shooting occurred just before 6 a.m. at the 700 block of Hollywood Drive, police said. Anchorage police Chief Sean Case described the incident as a chaotic and dynamic response.

At the scene, two bullet holes pierced a front window of the building, just above and below a sign indicating the residence was also a law office.

The initial calls came from a man and woman in the home, but in different locations, Case said in a media briefing Wednesday morning. They described a man with two long guns firing into the building, he said.

Several other neighbors called 911 to report gunfire and met officers who arrived at the scene to provide a description of the suspect, Case said. The callers inside the home reported at that time hearing glass break and doors being smashed, he said, and told dispatchers they believed the armed man was trying to enter the home.

Police outside saw the armed man, but he disappeared from their sight as they began to give commands, Case said. At that point, the man and woman inside the home came out of the house and officers ordered them to return indoors, he said.

Officers identified the suspect by his description and then confronted him as he began firing at the male homeowner, Case said.

“The suspect then appeared in the front of the house as well and fired at the victim, striking him multiple times,” he said. “As that was happening, our officers immediately responded and fired rounds at the suspect, striking the suspect multiple times.”

Case said both people who were wounded were brought to a hospital and were in critical condition, although he described their injuries as non life-threatening.

He said it was not yet clear what, if any, relationship existed between the shooter and people inside the home. The man who was in the home lived there and the woman was staying there, he said.

Police will identify the two officers who fired at the suspect within 72 hours, per department policy, Case said. The shooting was captured on body camera, he said.

Officers shot eight people last year in Anchorage. Five of them died.