Crime & Justice

One dead after shooting downtown; another found badly wounded nearby

A man died after being shot outside a nightclub in downtown Anchorage early Sunday, according to Anchorage police. Another man was hospitalized in critical condition after being found by a police officer three blocks away a few minutes earlier, but the two incidents were unrelated, police said.

A man in his mid-20s was found critically injured shortly before 3 a.m. outside Platinum Jaxx nightclub at 6th Avenue and I Street, and was later declared dead at a hospital, Parker said in an email. Police responded to reports of a "large disturbance" outside the nightclub, with shots fired, at 2:53 a.m., Parker said.

The man's name has not been released.

At 2:41 a.m., a police officer found a severely wounded man in his mid-20s at the intersection of 4th Avenue and G Street, Parker said. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition with penetrating wounds, Parker wrote.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the incidents - within 15 minutes of each other and three block apart - were related. But Parker said early Sunday afternoon that detectives don't think they're connected.

Detectives believe multiple witnesses video-recorded the incident outside Platinum Jaxx on their smartphones, Parker said, and police are asking them to contact police at 786-8900 so the videos can be downloaded. "Witness smart phones will be immediately returned to their owners," Parker said in an email.

On Sunday morning, police had blocked off 6th Avenue in front of the nightclub with yellow evidence markers at a number of spots on the street. The department's mobile crime-evidence van was parked nearby and officers could be seen examining the area.

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This is a developing story and we'll be updating as we learn more information.

Anchorage Daily News / adn.com

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