Rural Alaska

Southeast Alaska village of Kake lifts lockdown after arrest of man who fired shots near homes, official says

A man was arrested Tuesday morning after he reportedly fired shots near homes in Kake, causing the village to go into lockdown for hours.

The first shots rang out around 2:30 a.m., Tribal President Joel Jackson said. Kake, home to about 575 people, is around 100 miles southwest of Juneau.

The man, later identified as 48-year-old Keith Nelson, shot into the air multiple times throughout the early morning hours, Jackson said.

Alaska State Troopers were called just before 4 a.m. because a window had been broken at the school, an online alert said. Nelson entered another resident’s home around 4:30 a.m. without permission, troopers wrote. Four gunshots were heard after he left the home, troopers said.

Just after 10 a.m., Jackson said the situation had calmed and no shots had been fired recently. No injuries were reported.

Troopers from Juneau arrived by aircraft just before 11 a.m. and arrested Nelson without incident, troopers said. He will be held at Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau on charges of first-degree criminal trespass, and troopers said additional charges are likely.

The two Village Public Safety Officers for Kake only work two-week shifts, Jackson said. They were not in Kake Tuesday, he said.

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The community lifted the lockdown after Nelson’s arrest and things were returning to normal by noon, Jackson said.

“I’m just glad nobody was hurt,” he said.

Tess Williams

Tess Williams is a reporter focusing on breaking news and public safety. Before joining the ADN in 2019, she was a reporter for the Grand Forks Herald in North Dakota. Contact her at twilliams@adn.com.

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