Update, 4:30 p.m. Friday: The law enforcement officers who shot and killed a Wasilla man while they were trying to apprehend him Tuesday include an Alaska State Trooper of nine years and two U.S. Marshals, troopers said in an online report Friday.
The trooper involved was investigator Jared Noll, who serves with the Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit in Wasilla, troopers said. The names of the U.S. Marshals involved in the Wasilla-area shooting are being withheld because of their agency’s policy, according to troopers.
Matthew L. Fox, 40, was “absconding” and wanted for felony parole violations, and he had a firearm on him at the time of his attempted arrest, troopers said. A passenger was also in the vehicle when officers fired on Fox; they were not shot but were injured by the vehicle’s airbags, troopers said. Those injuries were not life-threatening.
That person has not been charged with a crime and, as a witness in the case, is not being identified, troopers said.
The original charges against Fox included third-degree assault, attempted escape, resisting arrest, misconduct involving weapons, burglary, theft and reckless endangerment, troopers said. There was also a federal probation violation warrant for a felon in possession of a firearm, troopers said.
Update, 7:45 a.m. Wednesday: Troopers identified the man killed Tuesday as 40-year-old Matthew L. Fox of Wasilla. A felony theft charge had been filed Tuesday against Fox and a warrant was issued, court records show.
Original story:
Law enforcement officers trying to arrest a man in the Wasilla area Tuesday afternoon shot and killed him after he reached for a firearm, Alaska State Troopers said in an online report.
The U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, a multi-jurisdictional unit, and the Alaska State Troopers Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit were serving a “high-risk arrest warrant” when officers tried to contact the man, who then fled, troopers said.
The man was in a vehicle, so officers used a “block and pin vehicle immobilizing tactic” and his vehicle became stuck in a ditch, troopers said.
Troopers said that the man was refusing to comply, resisting arrest and making threatening statements to officers, and they said he reached for a firearm. Law enforcement officers fired their weapons around 2:36 p.m. and shot the man, troopers said. He died at the scene “despite life-saving measures,” troopers said.
Attempts to notify his next of kin are underway, troopers said.
The Alaska Bureau of Investigation is in charge of the case, troopers said. Officers involved in the shooting will be identified “based on the policies and procedures of their respective agencies,” according to troopers.
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