Alaska State Troopers shot and killed a Nikolaevsk man Saturday evening after he attacked officers, the law enforcement agency said. It was the second fatal shooting by law enforcement in Alaska Saturday evening.
On Saturday afternoon, troopers traveled to the Kenai Peninsula community, northeast of Anchor Point, to investigate a complaint that Nikolai Yakunin, 42, was violating his conditions of release on a recent court case, according to an online statement from troopers.
When troopers arrived at a home on Nikolaevsk Road just after 7 p.m. Yakunin "attacked the first responding state trooper, injuring him and incapacitating him," the statement from troopers said.
[APD: Officer shot and killed man who charged with a knife after East Anchorage stabbing, chase]
The trooper "was unable to adequately defend himself."
When backup troopers arrived, "Yakunin continued his assaultive behavior, and he was shot to prevent further assaults on any trooper or bystander."
The initial statement did not say whether Yakunin had a weapon.
The injured trooper was taken to a hospital. On Sunday morning, AST spokeswoman Megan Peters did not have information available on his condition.
The names of the troopers involved in the fatal shooting have not been released.
The shooting happened within an hour of another fatal encounter between law enforcement and a suspect in Alaska.
Anchorage Police fatally shot a man who allegedly wielded a knife at an officer investigating a reported stabbing at an East Anchorage mobile home park Saturday evening. He has not been identified.
The man killed in the Anchorage officer-involved shooting will not be identified until Monday, APD spokeswoman Renee Oistad. Police would not answer additional questions about the shooting Sunday.