Harry Smith of Anchorage was shot and killed Sunday by two Anchorage Police officers after the 59-year-old pointed a Smith & Wesson M&P .177 caliber BB gun at them, according to a press release from the department. Police spokesman Dave Parker noted that the gun resembles a Smith & Wesson M&P .40-caliber pistol.
Smith is the second person killed by Anchorage Police in less than a month. On June 9 in Mountain View, a stick-wielding Shane Tasi was shot and killed by officer Boaz Gionson. Afterwards, said the state Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals determined that no charges are warranted against Gionson.
When officers arrived, the complainant told dispatch that Smith said he was going outside with a gun, and planned to "take care of everything." He went to the backyard and was confronted by officers. Officers first responded with less than lethal force in the form of 40mm projectiles, but after Smith pointed a handgun at them, two police officers fired, according to Parker.
Smith was critically injured and pronounced dead at the hospital. The police department's Homicide Detective Unit and Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals is investigating this shooting. The Major Crime Scene Investigators recovered the Smith & Wesson .177 caliber airgun. The names of the officers involved in the shooting will not be released for 72 hours, according to department policy.
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