Morning Valley of the Moon Park manhunt fails to turn up Anchorage murder suspect

Anchorage police officers, some with rifles raised, swarmed the woods along the Chester Creek Trail off a busy C Street Monday morning but came out empty-handed in the search for an at-large suspect in a murder case.

"We wanted to take every precaution possible to make sure we kept the public safe," said MJ Thim, police spokesman.

Two suspects in the April 12 Mountain View homicide remain at large: Mickee Thompson, 19, and Robert Smith, 18, who police consider armed and dangerous. The public should not approach them, Thim said.

"These criminals know that we are looking for them and it would be in their best interest to turn themselves in," he said.

Monday's search started after a patrol officer got a report from someone who said they saw a suspicious and possibly armed person in Valley of the Moon Park. Police also got a report of a possible sighting of Thompson, Thim said.

Officers responded to the area and set up a search perimeter on either side of a busy C Street during the morning commute to work. They cut off a portion of a popular trail, redirecting people walking or riding their bicycles. Police walked into the woods that are canvased with illegal encampments, asking people to come out of their tents and identify themselves.

Malik Shabazz, 25, said he was awoken Monday morning to police demanding he come out of his tent with his hands up. When he crawled out, he said, he saw about a dozen officers with their guns pointed at him.

"I was like, 'I didn't do anything,'" he said. "I'm homeless. I live in the woods. I'm not a threat to anybody."

By about 9:15 a.m., Anchorage police called off the search.

At one of the camps, officers arrested 23-year-old Dennis Gunn Jr., on an unrelated misdemeanor warrant, and a juvenile female on an outstanding warrant, police said.

"We went through the entire perimeter," Thim said. "We went through each tent."

Thim said the search continues for Thompson and Smith.

He asked anyone for information on their whereabouts, or any information about the case including surveillance video, to call 911 or to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 907-561-STOP.