Crime & Courts

Suspect in fatal Togiak shooting charged with murder

A 34-year-old Togiak man has been charged with first-degree murder in a fatal shooting in the village last week.

Richard Sears, who was shot and wounded by an Alaska State Trooper, was charged Friday in the death of 61-year-old Samuel Brito.

Sears is jailed in Anchorage, where he had been flown for treatment. Online court records do not list his attorney.

Togiak State Trooper Daniel Sadloske after hearing shots on July 11 saw Sears with a gun standing over Brito's body.

Troopers say Sadloske ordered Sears to drop the gun, and when he refused, fired at least one round from his service weapon, striking Sears.

Sadloske is an 18-year-veteran trooper.

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