A man was sent to Central Peninsula Hospital on Saturday after Alaska State Troopers shot him following a confrontation in the back of a patrol car.
Alaska State Troopers reported in an online dispatch that a man pulled a handgun on an Alaska State Trooper in the Soldotna area while the trooper was giving him a ride. The trooper managed to stop the car and get out safely while the man in the back “continued to brandish the handgun,” according to the dispatch.
Other troopers and the Alaska Department of Public Safety’s Special Emergency Reaction Team arrived at the scene, and emergency medical technicians were also staged nearby, according to the dispatch.
“Troopers attended to negotiate with the man hoping he would put the firearm down but the man refused,” the dispatch states.
At approximately 5:06 p.m., the man pointed the handgun at troopers and a trooper shot him, according to the dispatch. The man was injured but alive and transported to Central Peninsula Hospital for treatment.
Per Alaska State Troopers policy, the trooper who shot his gun will remain unidentified for 72 hours after the incident and be placed on administrative leave and the Alaska Bureau of Investigation will take over the investigation to determine if charges against the trooper involved are warranted.
Troopers received the original call around 2:45 p.m. that a “suspicious male” was walking on private property toward the woods, according to the dispatch. When a trooper arrived on scene, he found the man and offered him a ride home because of the cold temperatures. The man accepted and once in the back of the patrol car, he pulled the handgun, according to the dispatch.
Reach Elizabeth Earl at elizabeth.earl@peninsulaclarion.com.
