Anchorage man accused of shooting at pedestrians and vehicles indicted for attempted murder

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - An Anchorage grand jury has indicted a man on multiple charges after a shooting along a major highway earlier this month.

Franklin Dias, 37, was indicted on charges of first-degree assault, multiple counts of third-degree assault, and third-degree misconduct involving weapons for allegedly shooting at vehicles and pedestrians near the Glenn Highway, according to a released statement from the Department of Law.

Dias was arrested on Sept. 6 following the investigation of a man firing a handgun toward traffic near Boniface Parkway and the Glenn Highway.

Shortly before 6:30 p.m. that evening, police responded to shots being fired near the interchange along the Glenn Highway.

“Very quickly after the first arriving officer advised his patrol vehicle had been hit, other officers arrived at the scene and saw an adult male and adult female running on the bike trail near the Glenn Highway and Boniface overpass,” police said.

Police say the assailant shot at a police car, but the officer inside was not injured.

A passenger in another vehicle driving by at the same time was shot in the upper body. Police say that victim was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Officers later located Dias and a woman on the inbound side of the Glenn Highway, pursued the couple on foot, and later apprehended them.

Dias is currently in custody with bail set at $200,000. He faces up to 99 years in jail for the attempted murder charge, up to 20 years for the first-degree assault charge, up to 5 years for each of the third-degree assault charges, and weapons misconduct charges.

Arraignment for Dias is scheduled to be held in an Anchorage Superior Court today.

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