Police: Man who thought it would ‘be fun’ to fire gun in alley faces charges
A 21-year-old man faces criminal charges after police say he fired a 9mm handgun into the air just after midnight this morning in Midtown Anchorage.
The sound of gunfire led to the investigation, police say. An officer near North Start Street and West Northern Lights heard a shot and saw two men running from the direction of the sound, according to a police news release.
The officer talked to the men, who had been drinking at a nearby bar. “One of them thought it would be fun to fire a round off into the air in the alley,” police wrote.
The man, Elijah Ortega, faces charges of unlawful discharge of a firearm and being intoxicated while in possession of a firearm. Police issued a statement thanking people who called dispatchers to report the sound of gunfire, related to the incident.
