A shooting in Airport Heights early Sunday took the life of a young Anchorage man and a second man was quickly charged in the slaying.
Joshua Kagel, 25, was struck by multiple gunshots and collapsed on the lawn of Anchor Park United Methodist Church near the corner of Oak Drive and Lake Otis Parkway, Anchorage police said. Paramedics transported him to Alaska Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police took Osaiasi Saafi, 28, into custody at a house next door to the church. He was charged with first-degree murder and will be arraigned today, said Lt. Paul Honeman, police spokesman. Honeman said the shooting apparently stemmed from a fight between the dead man and his wife.
Several residents of Oak Drive said they woke up to yelling and screaming and then heard five to six gunshots at about 6:30 a.m.
"All of a sudden we heard bang, bang, bang, bang. I said, 'We have to call 911,' " said Vickie Green.
Green and Terri Huebler threw on clothes and rushed outside. Several yards away, they saw a man lying on grass outside the church and a young woman standing over him wailing.
The victim appeared to have at least two gunshot wounds to the head, Green and Huebler said. Kagel was bleeding profusely and his body was having seizures, said Huebler, who works in the cardiac unit at Providence Alaska Medical Center.
Huebler checked for a pulse while Green, a former medical technician, administered CPR until paramedics arrived. There was not much they could do because Kagel's condition was so serious, the women said.
"Our heart goes out to the family," Green said.
Before police had arrived, neighbors asked the woman standing over Kagel where the shooter was. She said, "He's still in the house," Green said.
Police arrived at about 6:49 a.m., according to a press release. They entered the house next to the church, 2408 Oak Drive, and came out with a young, burly man with close-cropped hair, neighbors said.
"He just walked to the police car without handcuffs," said Green.
Authorities later identified him as Saafi. His bail was set at $300,000, Honeman said.
The owner of the house, identified in public records as Iunise Lupe Saafi, could not be reached Sunday. No one answered the door and the telephone line was busy throughout the day.
Neither drugs nor alcohol are believed to have played a part in the killing. Rather, it appears to have been a domestic dispute that boiled over into murder, Honeman said at a press briefing late Sunday afternoon.
"Mr. and Mrs. Kagel were arguing. Mr. Saafi stepped in to intervene," Honeman said.
"It appears this was an intentional shooting," he said.
Kagel's wife has family ties to Saafi, he said. The precise relationship could not be determined Sunday, although a neighbor said she believes Elizabeth Kagel, the wife of the victim, is a niece or cousin of Iunise Saafi.
Parishioners arriving to attend services Sunday morning walked past yellow police tape cordoning off half of the church's front yard where Kagel had died.
"I hope nobody comes to our church for the first time today and sees this crime scene," said Lindsey Kemberling, 15.
The Saafi family are longtime members of the church, Kemberling said.
"They're really loving people," she said.
Minerva Thompson, who lives across the street from the church, said she wrapped a blanket around the victim's wife and tried to comfort her shortly after the shooting. Thompson is selling her house and had planned to have an openhouse Sunday afternoon.
"The real estate agent thought we should go ahead and have it," Thompson said.
She later spoke with an officer taking evidence from the crime scene. He told her the yellow crime tape would be up for most of the day and that an open house wouldn't work out.
"He said, 'I don't think so.' " Thompson said.
Airport Heights is usually a quiet part of town. Residents of the 1950s-era neighborhood of small, ranch-style houses with sidewalks and mature trees often note Airport Heights' friendliness and livability. But neighbors are still reeling from an unsolved drive-by shooting Aug. 11 at the intersection of East 20th and Sunrise Drive. No one was hurt.
Also, on July 17, police arrested three suspects at a house on Columbine Street in Airport Heights in connection with a shooting at the Northway Mall that left a victim seriously wounded.
Amy Miller moved to Airport Heights from Colorado last year and just this month bought a ranch home on Oak Drive, one house down from where Sunday's shooting took place. Although she woke up to gunfire and watched a man die a few feet from her new home, Miller said she still likes Airport Heights and her neighbors.
"It's shocking. It's very shocking. But my first thought was, 'Oh, that poor family,' " Miller said.
Daily News reporter Paula Dobbyn can be reached at pdobbyn@adn.com or 257-4317.
