Crime & Courts

2nd suspect in Campbell Airstrip Road homicide arrested in W. Virginia

The second suspect in the Campbell Airstrip Road homicide, Riek William Gat, was arrested Friday by U.S. Marshals in West Virginia, the Anchorage Police Department said.

Gat, 19, has been charged with first- and second-degree murder in the shooting of Michael Miquan Mitchell.

Mitchell was found dead on Campbell Airstrip Road near the Stuckagain Heights neighborhood around 8:30 a.m. Aug. 22. He had been shot multiple times in the head and torso. Few additional details have been released in the case.

The first suspect in the case to be arrested, 18-year-old Kutay Khak Bangout, was arraigned Monday in Anchorage Superior Court. Bangout also faces first- and second-degree murder charges, and a charge for felony theft of a firearm, which the Anchorage district attorney has previously said might have been involved in the homicide. Bangout pleaded not guilty to the charges.

U.S. Marshals Service Northern District of West Virginia learned of Gat's likely whereabouts Thursday afternoon, said Terry Moore, supervisory deputy for U.S. Marshals Northern District of West Virginia.

"Alaska had obtained some information that he had departed there and traveled clear across the country," Moore said.

Gat was believed to be staying with a friend in Morgantown, Moore said. marshals tracked down the person's address and conducted surveillance on the apartment complex.

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About 3 p.m. EST Friday, marshals watched as Gat left an apartment and got into a vehicle. Marshals followed, and called local police at Morgantown, asking police to conduct a traffic stop.

When police pulled the vehicle over, Gat was arrested without incident, Moore said.

Gat will be detained at West Virginia's North Central Regional Jail in Greenwood, Moore said, charged as a fugitive from justice in West Virginia. He'll likely have an extradition hearing next week, where he can waive his rights and return to Alaska, or require West Virginia to prove he is the actual person charged in the case, Moore said.

Laurel Andrews

Laurel Andrews was a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch News and Alaska Dispatch. She left the ADN in October 2018.

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