Mat-Su

Man accused of wounding Wasilla officer in exchange of gunfire faces attempted-murder charge

Update 11 a.m. Monday, Dec. 21: The Wasilla police officer who fired his weapon was identified by Alaska State Troopers Monday as Adam Gebert. He has five years of experience in law enforcement and has been with the Wasilla Police Department for a year, troopers wrote.

Original story:

PALMER -- A 57-year-old Anchorage man was arrested in Mat-Su Thursday night after what Alaska State Troopers described as a “volley of gunfire” that injured a Wasilla police officer.

Troopers said in an alert late Thursday that Patrick E. Marrs II was found about an hour after the shooting in a subdivision near the area where it occurred. He was arrested without incident.

The officer’s injuries were not life-threatening, a troopers spokesperson said Friday morning.

Marrs was wanted on numerous warrants for his arrest. A female passenger in the car with him was also injured. She was treated and released at the hospital.

The name of the injured officer will not be released for 72 hours under department policy.

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The incident started with a traffic stop on Bogard Road just before 5 p.m. Thursday, troopers say. Marrs didn’t pull over and instead accelerated at high speed. The officer caught up to him near the parking lot of the Valley Country Store at Bogard and Seldon roads.

Marrs and the officer exchanged gunfire and the officer and passenger were injured, troopers say. Marrs fled on foot.

Asked who initiated the gunfire and how many shots were fired, troopers spokesperson Austin McDaniel said in an email that information was “part of the investigation, and I cannot comment on the investigation at this time.”

Wasilla police, troopers, wildlife troopers, Anchorage police and a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officer responded to the area. Some roads in the area were temporarily closed as K9s searched for the suspect, according to troopers.

The Anchorage Police Department was involved because their K9 team responded to the scene after they were requested, McDaniel said.

Marrs was arraigned in Palmer court Friday morning on charges of first-degree attempted murder; first- and second-degree assault; misconducting involving a weapon; failure to stop at the direction of an officer and providing false information. He was jailed at the Anchorage Correctional Complex.

The outstanding warrants against him included several stemming from 2011 and 2018 felony burglary cases from Anchorage, according to a state courts database.

Zaz Hollander

Zaz Hollander is a veteran journalist based in the Mat-Su and is currently an ADN local news editor and reporter. She covers breaking news, the Mat-Su region, aviation and general assignments. Contact her at zhollander@adn.com.

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