Adrian T. Spindler, 19, went to see "Transformers 3" at the theater with friends Sunday night. He went home, to a neighborhood off the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, promising to join his buddies online to play video games, a friend said.
By early Monday morning, he was dead: shot and killed by state troopers who say Spindler threatened them with a handgun after an armed standoff at his home, according to a trooper statement.
"No way I saw that coming," said Ryan Pitcher, a friend who spent part of the day with Spindler Sunday.
It's unclear what led to the standoff at the home near the intersection of Winding Brook Loop and the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, just west of Trunk Road.
But the trouble became apparent at 12:45 a.m. Monday when police received a 911 call from the residence. The call was cut off, but not before troopers got word that a suicidal man was at the home, trooper spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said.
Two women were in the residence with Spindler when troopers arrived. Both were evacuated while troopers talked with Spindler by phone and in person.
After an hour of negotiations, Spindler came outside and threatened troopers with a handgun, troopers said.
Two troopers fired at Spindler, striking him, troopers said. Medics who had been waiting nearby declared him dead.
The Alaska Bureau of Investigation has begun an investigation into shooting and the circumstances surrounding it.
The troopers involved in the shooting are on leave for 72 hours, as is called for by department policy, troopers said. The names of the troopers who fired at Spindler will be released Thursday.
Five troopers were present at the site. Three Wasilla police officers, there to assist troopers, did not fire their weapons, Ipsen said.
Spindler's MySpace page says he graduated from Chemawa Indian School in Salem, Ore., in 2010. Prior to that, he attended Colony High School in the Valley. The MySpace page listed his hometown as Deering. In a personal description, Spindler talked about his close relationship with his girlfriend.
Rick Pitcher, Ryan's father, said Spindler used to spend time with the Pitcher family.
"It was an unbelievable shock to find out he was shot," said Rick Pitcher.
Ryan Pitcher said Spindler and his girlfriend were having boyfriend-girlfriend issues.
"He was like, 'I need to get away,' " Pitcher said. "So we hung out, went and watched a movie. It didn't seem out of the normal."
Reach Rosemary Shinohara at rshinohara@adn.com or 257-4340.
By ROSEMARY SHINOHARA
rshinohara@adn.com