Fairbanks murder suspect arrested after sighting that prompted school lockdowns

A man suspected of murdering his stepfather was arrested Tuesday in Fairbanks after a sighting that prompted school lockdowns in the area.

Fairbanks police said 29-year-old Joseph Arabie was seen on Dunbar Avenue, off West Trainor Gate Road. Officers responded to the scene, and people were advised to avoid the area.

Fairbanks Police Department spokesperson Yumi McCulloch said in a brief email that Arabie was spotted in the area after "reports of a stabbing."

McCulloch said the stabbing was reported at about 9:45 a.m. Medics took a male victim to the hospital, where he underwent surgery Tuesday.

"He was holding his hand to his neck from a stab wound," said Deputy Police Chief Doug Welborn from the scene, in a video posted on Facebook. "We did render aid immediately."

Responding officers also saw Arabie at the scene.

"He took off and ran," McCulloch said.

Welborn said Arabie ran from the back of the residence near the Old Steese Highway into a wooded area. Officers apprehended the murder suspect after a brief chase; Arabie laid on the ground and was not combative, the deputy chief said.

Prior to Arabie's arrest, police had stopped a vehicle on the highway because officers believed he may be riding in it. Arabie wasn't there, Welborn said, but an individual in the vehicle told officers there was a second person inside the residence at the scene of the stabbing.

That second, unidentified suspect is wanted in connection with a shooting last week in downtown Fairbanks, Welborn said. He declined to provide further details about the shooting.

Police believed the person was barricaded inside the residence and sent out a tactical team to try and make contact.

Police started to clear the area shortly after 2 p.m. "Suspect was not in the residence," they said in a brief update.

Fairbanks North Star Borough School District spokesperson Sharice Walker said three schools were affected by the incident for about half an hour, starting shortly before 10 a.m. Ladd Elementary and Tanana Middle schools were placed in lockdown, and Nordell Elementary School was in a lesser "sit-tight" state.

Arabie is charged with first-degree murder in the Thursday shooting of 47-year-old Carlos Zuniga. Zuniga was found shot to death in a Bunnell Street apartment, where family members said he and Arabie had been in an argument before the shooting.