A shooting at a cabin about forty miles upriver from Kiana has caused a lock-down in that community as well as the community of Noorvik on Wednesday morning.

Alaska State Troopers in Kotzebue were notified that two men had been floating down the Squirrel River and had stopped at a cabin on the river on Tuesday night.

When they went to the cabin, they found that another man was staying there. Sometime after they made contact with the unidentified man, an altercation occurred and both of the men were shot. One of the men was shot in the chest and the other was wounded in the arm. One of the men has been identified as Paul Buckel, a mechanic for Era Aviation. The identity of the other victim is still unkown at this time.

After shooting the two men, the shooter took the men’s boat, along with their hunting equipment, and began floating down the river.

At daylight, state troopers responded to the scene and transported the gunshot victims to Kiana where the care of the men was turned over to the medevac flight that transported them to hospitals for care of their wounds. One of the victims was taken to a hospital in Kotzebue and the other transported to Anchorage for care.

Troopers stood by at the cabin upriver from Kiana and at the village of Kiana itself this morning as they waited for more resources before they began scouring the area between the cabin and the community.

Kiana is the location of another incident that occurred on Friday September 10th. It was reported then that Dolly Smith was found deceased at her home in Kiana. It was at that time that Teddy Smith, the son of Dolly, discharged a weapon towards the first responders and the crowd that had gathered outside of the residence. It was after that that T. Smith fled the area and hasn’t been seen since.

Troopers haven’t disclosed if they suspect Smith to be involved with this latest incident, but he is still wanted on assault charges for the discharging of the weapon towards the crowd. Authorities still consider the 45-year-old man to be armed and dangerous.