Anchorage police Tuesday identified a man shot by officers after he allegedly pointed a handgun at them during a traffic stop as Kyle Garrett Swann, 22.
Swann was shot in the left elbow Sunday night and has undergone surgery for his injury, said Anchorage Police Department chief Mark Mew at a press conference.
He now faces four counts of felony assault as well as charges related to an outstanding warrant and is in custody of the Department of Corrections, Mew said. He will be taken to the Anchorage Jail when he is released from the hospital.
Police say that on Sunday at about 7:05 p.m. an officer saw an SUV driving recklessly near Denali Street and 12th Avenue in downtown Anchorage. The vehicle was driving fast on slick roads and almost hit a dumpster or slid into an intersection, said police Lt. Anthony Henry.
When an officer pulled over the SUV and did a computer check of the three occupants he discovered that the backseat passenger, Swann, had a felony warrant related to his failure to appear in court on drug charges, Mew said.
A second officer arrived as backup and when the two approached the car Swann pulled out a .38 caliber revolver and pointed it at the officers, according to Mew.
The two officers fired a total of six shots, he said, with one hitting Swann in the left arm.
The suspect never fired at the officers, police said.
Swann's bail has been set at $40,000 cash, police said. The driver of the SUV, Garret Graham, 22, and the front seat passenger, Christina Morton, 19, have not been charges with any crime but an investigation is ongoing, Henry said.
The incident brings the number of times police have shot civilians in Anchorage this year to five.
That's "a very unusual year for officer-involved shootings" said Mew.
The Sunday incident was a clear case of police responding to a deadly threat with deadly force, he said.
"I don't think this is going to be difficult for people to understand," Mew said.
The names of the officers involved in the shooting have not yet been released.
Reach Michelle Theriault Boots at mtheriault@adn.com or 257-4344.
By MICHELLE THERIAULT BOOTS