WASILLA -- The shooting of an Anchorage man last week at Mat-Su Resort has already led to beefed-up security at the decades-old Wasilla Lake establishment.
But more changes may be in the works as resort owners ponder the challenges of running the resort, which has morphed into the only nightclub in the Valley.
There's talk of closing the doors to new patrons at a certain time to prevent Anchorage drinkers from descending once bars there stop serving. There's also talk of doing away with the club at 1850 Bogard Road altogether.
"Something less provocative," resort co-owner John Emmi said. "People have been coming in saying they want a new country western bar in the Valley, or they want a new sports bar, so maybe we'll switch our theme around."
The shooting happened around 4 a.m. July 4 in the resort parking lot after dozens of patrons spilled out of the Zoo nightclub, which opened just this year in the resort basement.
Miguel Guarderas, 26, was shot in the neck, Alaska State Troopers said. He survived his injuries. But the circumstances surrounding the shooting remain foggy.
The night started with a club DJ and an appearance by KFAT 92.9 FM personality McConnell "Large" Adams, giving away Alaska Wild tickets, CDs and shout-outs to the ladies. The radio station's live broadcast from the club had been promoted beforehand, as part of a six-month advertising contract between KFAT and the resort.
The incident started several hours after the broadcast ended, Adams said.
A couple in a group of six people started fighting inside the Zoo, troopers said. Others in their group got involved. Bar staff asked the group to leave, but they filtered back in. Ultimately, with tension rising and closing time near, everyone inside the club got kicked out.
A RECIPE FOR VIOLENCE
In the parking lot, the combination of dozens of disgruntled partiers and a charged atmosphere triggered other fights, troopers said.
Witnesses reported hearing one shot, a pause, then more shots, troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said. Investigators recovered casings from two types of ammunition.
The witnesses reported seeing someone shoot into a car with Guarderas in the back seat, Palmer-based troopers investigator Leonard Wallner said.
Guarderas said he was with three other people just trying to leave the club in one of the first, if not the first, cars to make its way out of the parking lot, Wallner said. His group's contention is that they got caught in the crossfire, which "could be very viable," Wallner said.
Beyond that, the investigator continues trying to figure out exactly what happened, and who did the shooting, a process complicated by the sheer number of witnesses -- between 30 and 40, many from Anchorage -- and the reluctance of some to talk.
"I went into Anchorage yesterday, spent the day trying to track down some of these Anchorage people," Wallner said Tuesday. "I ended up in Mountain View only to have total uncooperation, doors being slammed in my face."
POOR RECEPTION FOR KFAT
The radio station that made its first trip to the club last week is running into some ugly behavior, too.
Since the shooting, KFAT has fielded calls from angry and occasionally racist detractors, "how they don't want KFAT out there, how they don't want a certain color people to come out there," said Adams, the station program director and afternoon DJ.
People are calling KFAT a "gangsta rap" station that attracted an Anchorage crowd, he said. The station -- overhauling its image since last year -- doesn't play that kind of music, Adams said. People may have come out from Anchorage, but that was because nobody had to work the next day and the idea of going to a club in Wasilla was something different.
"There were two idiots who did something stupid and they made the Mat-Su Resort look bad and they made us look bad," he said. "That's it. It's not their fault and it's not our fault. We provide a way for people to have a good time. We put music on the air."
The resort will continue its relationship with the radio station, Emmi said, though another live broadcast "would be under question."
He largely blames the criminal justice system, not KFAT, for allowing the people who shot up his parking lot to stay on the street instead of in jail.
Guarderas, the only person named so far, has only a few charges on his record, and all of them for minor infractions such as expired registration, according to a public records database.
RESORT BEEFS UP SECURITY
In the aftermath of the shooting, the resort's security director has hired two new "real experienced" employees, Emmi said. The resort already puts six to 10 security staffers on duty any given night, depending on the situation.
During a personnel meeting after the shooting, the idea of closing to outside customers at a certain hour came up. Emmi said he didn't know exactly how to implement such a policy, and described it as "just a potential idea to help."
Meanwhile, Emmi and co-owner Steve Bargabos have been trying to lease or sell the resort since a prior tenant fizzled.
The men never planned to run a resort, much less a nightclub.
Emmi and Bargabos bought the resort about a year ago as an investment but an anticipated long-term lease with Great Bear Brewing fell through.
The Zoo actually started as a basement brewing room renovated into a club to make better use of the space.
Emmi said last week's shooting shouldn't put off any potential takers.
"I wouldn't see why," he said. "Every other place I know that's in business has had seven or 10 violent acts per year. We only had one in 50."
Find Zaz Hollander online at adn.com/contact/zhollander or call 257-4200.
