Charges: Russian Jack shooting occurred over debt

A man wanted by police in the wake of a shooting that left a man severely wounded at a Russian Jack mobile home earlier this month has turned himself in, with investigators saying the attack was linked to a possible debt.

Anchorage police spokeswoman Anita Shell said Khiosomphone Sophasath, 28, surrendered himself to police early Friday morning. Court records show him charged with first-degree assault in the July 9 shooting, as well as third-degree weapons misconduct for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

In a probable-cause statement attached to a warrant for Sophasath's arrest, police detective Edward Gurtler said officers arrived shortly after midnight and found 21-year-old Cameron Stein on the 1500 block of Hoyt Street with "four or five apparent bullet strikes to his torso." Police had said at the time of the shooting that the victim was expected to survive.

"He was conscious and was able to tell officers that he owed someone money (he referenced a gang) but he could not pay it," Gurtler wrote, adding that "… a male known to him as 'K' had come to his house wanting the money. When Stein could not produce the money, 'K' said he was going to kill him and shot him."

Officers had tracked Sophasath, already identified as a possible suspect, to a home across the street from the address where the shooting took place. A woman who answered the door at his home told police she had seen Sophasath — who sometimes went by the moniker "K" — emerging from the victim's home, then "putting his gun into his waistband near his crotch and running away."

Another witness reported hearing Sophasath ask Stein about money, Gurtler wrote, with Stein replying that "he didn't know where it was" just prior to the gunfire. A second witness positively identified Sophasath out of a photo lineup.

Sophasath was arraigned Friday afternoon in Anchorage jail court, where records show a public defender was appointed for him. A judge set his bail at $50,000 plus a $20,000 cash performance bond, with a court-approved third-party custodian required for his release.