On September 24, 2019 an Anchorage jury convicted 36-year-old Jose Miguel Contreras Evangelista of multiple offenses stemming from an east Anchorage shooting incident in which he fired several gunshots into a neighbor’s trailer with a mother and three of her children inside. As officers were responding to reports of the initial shots, Evangelista fired additional shots, provoking a SWAT response and the evacuation of the neighborhood. 
 
The jury found Evangelista guilty of two counts of Attempted Murder in the First Degree, two counts of Misconduct Involving Weapons in the Second Degree, and seven counts of Assault in the Third degree. After reaching verdicts on all of the charges, the jury then returned to deliberations to consider several aggravating factors, finding four applied.
 
Evidence during the three week trial showed that around midnight on May 17, 2019, Evangelista fired numerous handgun rounds from his trailer in the Malaspina trailer park into his neighbor’s trailer. The gunshots entered one of the victim’s bedrooms. At the time the gunshots entered their residence, the victim’s children – ages 19, 12 and 8 – were in the home. 
 
The Anchorage Police Department responded to the emergency call. Testimony showed that as an officer examined the damage in the bedroom from the previous gunshots, Evangelista fired two more gunshots into the bedroom, one of which ricocheted and came within a foot of the officer’s face.

 
In response, the police evacuated nearby residents, including numerous children, and set up a perimeter around Evangelista’s trailer. Evangelista did not respond to police requests that he surrender, and an APD SWAT team arrived at 3:00 a.m. to assist. Evangelista continued the standoff until after 5:00 a.m. when the SWAT team deployed noise and flash diversionary devices to force his surrender. 
 
Attempted Murder in the First Degree is an unclassified felony and carries a possible sentence 5 to 99 years in prison. Misconduct Involving Weapons in the Second Degree is a class B felony and carries a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison.  Assault in the Third Degree is a class C felony and carries a possible sentence of up to 5 years in prison.
 
Evangelista’s sentence is up to the discretion of the Anchorage Superior Court. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 28, 2020.

Source: APD/Nixle

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