Police: Anchorage man dead from police gunfire in West Anchorage shooting

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Details are beginning to emerge about a fatal shooting in West Anchorage early Monday involving the Anchorage Police Department.

According to APD, which held a press conference on Monday, four police officers shot at a man at the center of a domestic disturbance call. At least one of the officers’ shots struck the man in the upper body. The man died on the scene.

On Wednesday, APD identified the victim as 34-year-old Kristopher K. Handy.

The department released the names of the four officers involved in the shooting on Thursday morning, as protocol dictates a 72-hour wait for officer names:

• Officer Jacob Jones, hired December 2016
• Officer Jacob Ostolaza, hired June 2016
• Sgt. Noel Senoran, hired November 1999
• Officer James Stineman, hired June 2022

Police say the call came in around 2:15 a.m. and led officers to a Bearfoot Drive apartment. By the time they arrived at the scene, police said Handy was outside with a long gun.

The man pointed his gun toward officers, prompting the shooting, according to police.

Rickel Nichols-Cullison lives in the apartment complex next door. She said she didn’t see what happened, but she heard it.

“I was dead asleep and I woke up to four or five — maybe even six — shots, and it was loud booms, very loud,” she said.

Christina Crowe didn’t hear the shots but said her clients did. She lives in an assisted living home that’s less than a block away.

“We all started getting multiple text messages and calls from our clients just saying how concerned they were and scared,” Crowe said. “This thing is definitely not something normal that happens in this area at all.”

There are no immediate details on the nature of the disturbance, which was between Handy and a woman.

Chief Designee Bianca Cross said the Alaska Department of Law will determine whether the police were correct in using lethal force, per protocol.

“Once that has been completed, APD Internal Affairs will review the officers’ actions to confirm whether there was any violation of policy,” Cross said, adding that the outcome of that investigation will be made public.

Body cameras were used, but Cross said the footage will be withheld until the investigation concludes. According to APD, this is the first officer-involved shooting the department has had this year.

Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify that police claim the man pointed his gun toward officers.

This story has been updated with additional information.