Crime & Justice

Dispute near South Anchorage strip club ends in shooting

Police are investigating a shooting following a disturbance near a South Anchorage strip club that wounded a man early Friday and are asking anyone who witnessed the incident to come forward.

According to spokeswoman Jennifer Castro, the victim was shot in the upper arm and treated at an Anchorage hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

The incident began shortly before 3 a.m., when dispatchers received a report of an altercation outside Club SinRock at West 64th Avenue and C Street. The establishment advertises itself as a "gentleman's club" offering "fully nude adult entertainment."

"It was reported to police that a male involved in the disturbance was brandishing a handgun and that the two arguing parties had left in separate vehicles," Castro wrote in a statement on the incident.

Castro said police didn't have word on whether any of the people involved in the exchange had been patrons of the club.

Officers responded to the scene and received a report in the next few minutes of shots fired near West Dimond Boulevard and King Street. Upon investigation, they found broken automotive glass and shell casings near West Dimond and Arctic boulevards.

"We believe it's from the vehicles -- it appears to be broken glass from the window of a vehicle," Castro said.

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Castro said it wasn't immediately clear whether gunshots had been fired from one vehicle into another or there had been a two-way exchange of fire.

Roughly 20 minutes after the West Dimond call, the victim arrived at a hospital with a gunshot wound. Police found one of the vehicles that had been present near Club SinRock at the hospital when they arrived.

Castro said police are withholding a description of the other vehicle involved in the incident Friday. The victim has been cooperating with police, she said, but investigators are asking other witnesses to call police at 907-786-8900.

Chris Klint

Chris Klint is a former ADN reporter who covered breaking news.

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