On Friday afternoon two Alaska State Troopers shot and killed a Virginia man about 20 miles north of the town of Healy, in Interior Alaska.
According to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, troopers shot 34-year-old Atom Ziniewicz of Falls Church, Va. around 2 p.m. Friday after Ziniewicz allegedly assaulted another man with a handgun. Troopers later released some details:
Early Friday morning, an armed man, later identified as Ziniewicz, confronted Brenton A. Green, 21 and Kimberly J. Scharber, 21, both of Wasilla, at a cabin near Mile 270 of the Parks Highway. After threatening the couple, Ziniewicz shot Green twice. Both Green and Scharber, who was not harmed, escaped and eventually alerted Troopers. Green was later transported to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital.
Troopers then launched a manhunt for Ziniewicz, which disrupted traffic along a nine-mile section of the Parks Highway for hours. Joining Troopers in the manhunt were Alaska Wildlife Troopers and members of a special emergency reaction team from Fairbanks, Healy, Cantwell and Palmer.
Ziniewicz was located around noon about 20 miles north of Healy and east of Denali National Park, though Troopers declined to say exactly where they located him. After attempting to arrest Ziniewicz around noon, but failing, two Troopers shot him.
The Alaska Bureau of Investigation is looking into the shooting. The names of the Troopers involved have not been released, per department policy.
Of Ziniewicz, The News-Miner reports:
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