Crime & Courts

Police seek public’s help finding people tied to South Anchorage shooting

Police are searching for at least two people believed to have been present during a South Anchorage shooting that left a man stranded in the woods with a life-threatening wound last week.

The victim called 911 just before 2:30 a.m. Saturday and reported he’d been shot but was having a hard time detailing his exact location, police wrote in an online statement. The man was living in a tent in a large wooded area off Minnesota Drive between Dimond Boulevard and 100th Street, said Renee Oistad, a spokeswoman for the police department.

Several teams of officers and a K9 searched the area, and the man was found about an hour after he called for help, said Oistad.

“Dispatch remained on the phone with the victim the entire time,” she wrote in an email. “He was difficult to find due to the large wooded area, multiple trails in and out, and his tent being covered which kept it from being seen by our drone.”

Firefighters used rescue equipment to get the man out of the woods, police said. He was brought to the hospital with at least one life-threatening gunshot wound to the upper body, police said. Oistad did not release an update on his condition but said Thursday that he had not died from the injuries.

Police said they believe at least two people other than the victim were at the scene but did not have a description of any possible suspects. Oistad did not say what led police to believe at least two people were present during the shooting.

Police are asking anyone with information or surveillance footage from the area between 1 and 3 a.m. on Jan. 18 to call dispatch at 311, or contact Crime Stoppers at 907-561-STOP or anchoragecrimestoppers.com.

ADVERTISEMENT