An Alaska State Trooper in Fairbanks fatally shot a man early Friday after he got out of a vehicle following a pursuit and pointed what appeared to be an assault rifle but was actually a paintball gun at the law enforcement officer, troopers said.
Anchorage resident Dimitri Lanahan, 23, was pronounced dead at the scene, troopers said in an online report.
Lanahan was carrying a paintball gun, troopers spokesman Austin McDaniel said Friday afternoon. Troopers described it as a replica of an assault rifle lacking any marks that “readily distinguished it from a firearm.”
An investigation after the shooting indicated that the Jeep and its license plates had been reported stolen in Anchorage and that Lanahan had an outstanding felony no-bail arrest warrant for second-degree escape, troopers said.
The shooting occurred after 2:41 a.m., when a trooper saw Linehan recklessly driving a silver Jeep near the Gold Rush Estates Trailer Park, according to troopers.
“The silver Jeep nearly collided with a marked trooper patrol vehicle, forcing the trooper to take evasive action,” troopers said in the report.
The trooper tried to pull the vehicle over but Lanahan failed to stop, leading to a pursuit, troopers said.
The pursuit ended at a wooded area between Fairbanks International Airport and the Tanana River flood dike, and Lanahan stepped out of the Jeep and pointed the replica at the trooper, according to troopers.
The “Alaska state trooper discharged their duty weapon, striking the driver,” troopers said.
Only one trooper was involved in the incident, and they were not injured, troopers said. No one else was in the Jeep.
The Alaska Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting. That investigation will be reviewed by the state Office of Special Prosecutions, troopers said.
How many time the trooper discharged the weapon is one of the factors under investigation, McDaniel said.
Troopers said they will release the name of the trooper after 72 hours. Under department policy, the trooper has been placed on 72-hour paid administrative leave, McDaniel said.