Neighbors described chaos at a New Year's Eve party in northeast Anchorage where at least two people were shot, including one critically: Teenagers fleeing in horror, bullets ripping through walls and the steady pop of gunfire.
"Tat-tat-tat-tat," said Nyaboth Luak, a neighbor who said she heard about 15 or 20 shots.
She was in a chair watching TV about 1 a.m. Friday when a bullet tore into her Muldoon townhouse, shattering a light fixture above her head and sending glass raining onto the floor near her.
It was one of four bullets that flew into her garage and house, including one that pierced the window upstairs, leaving a large hole and a slug on her bed that she found the next morning.
She quickly realized those weren't firecrackers from the party at the adjoining unit on Williwa Avenue.
Luak, who is from Sudan, told reporters Friday morning that several children live in the house, including her own and a nephew.
"I just thank God" that nobody in her house was hurt, she said.
During the shooting, the children ran downstairs, shouting that guns were being fired in the street.
"You want some, you want some," a shooter in the street shouted, according to her nephew, Kouthethin Luak, 10.
Watching the scene from the room upstairs, Kouthethin said he saw a person get shot and stagger forward.
"He started limping" away, said Kouthethin, along with lots of other young partygoers. Many fled into the house and the backyard.
"I was scared," Kouthethin said. "I was thinking I might get shot today."
So far, police have released little information about the shooting.
The Anchorage Police Department said in a release Friday at 6:30 a.m. that detectives were interviewing witnesses. No suspects had been arrested, they said.
They received a call shortly after 1 a.m. that "multiple shots" had been fired at the house party with more than 50 people.
Responding, they found one man who was critically injured. He went to the hospital in an ambulance.
The family of Armando Ochoa, 21, confirmed that he was the victim taken to the hospital. On Friday night, family members, including his mother, waited anxiously at the Alaska Native Medical Center, where he was in the critical care unit.
"He is strong," said his girlfriend, Jazmin Carreon.
Another victim who had been at the party showed up at a hospital later, seeking treatment for a gunshot wound that wasn't life-threatening, police said.
At least two cars outside the party were struck with bullets, including one that shattered the rear window of Luak's car.
Roger Parcon, who lives across the street from where the party was held, said there have been lots of big parties at the house.
"It's not like 10 people, 15 people. Man, it's a lot," Parcon said.
He opened his garage door after he heard popping sounds.
"We thought (it was) just firecrackers. Then I thought they (were) fighting. Teenagers (were) running scared," he said.
Neighbors described a white or silver car driving off, a passenger firing a gun in the air.
Kollin Madsen, 21, said he attended the party and was upstairs when the shooting began.
It was wall-to-wall people, Madsen said. After shots rang out, he ran downstairs and outside into the garage, trying to see what has happening.
Back inside, several partygoers were helping one of the victims, who was bleeding on the living room floor.
"No idea" what sparked the shooting, Madsen said. "It was quite a bit of gunfire."
Madsen said he didn't know the person who had been shot.
Late Friday morning, he had returned to the party to help clean up, and appeared to be alone in the quiet house.
He said his friend had hosted the party.
Inside, bloody rags, shards of broken glass and plastic cups littered the sticky living room floor, underneath strung-up Christmas lights. A banner above the kitchen sink declared, "Happy New Year."
Anchorage police are asking anyone with additional information to contact them at 786-8900 and press "0" to speak with a dispatcher. Tips can also be provided anonymously at 561-STOP or at anchohragecrimestoppers.com, police said.