FAIRBANKS -- A suspect shot and killed by a Fairbanks police officer had fired his own handgun, according to investigators.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports 21-year-old Matthew Dillingham shot at the officer at least once Tuesday morning before he was killed.

The incident began shortly after midnight when the officer spotted a stolen car on south Cushman Street.

The vehicle stopped in the parking lot of an apartment complex on 15th Avenue.

The driver fled. Police say Dillingham, a passenger, tried to run around the front of the vehicle but fell and then drew a handgun.

Police say after the exchange of gunfire, Dillingham's .22-caliber semiautomatic flew into the air and landed in deep snow. The pistol was recovered about three hours later.