More information has been released in the officer involved shooting that took place in Bethel on Tuesday night.
On Tuesday night Bethel Police officers arrived at a residence at 188 East Avenue in Bethel responding to a report of a disturbance. As the officers were responding to the scene, another call came in upgrading the original call . The second call advised the officers that a person inside the residence had a firearm,
That was confirmed by witnesses at the scene. Witnesses verified the presence of a weapon and also informed the officers that there were still people in the house along with the suspect.
The responding officers worked to evacuate the persons from the building. As they got the people out of the home and to the outside, 24-year-old Bethel resident, Sam Alexi Jr confronted the officers armed with a rifle.
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The officers ordered Alexi to drop the weapon. Instead, Alexi leveled the weapon at the officers and one of the officers fired.
Alexi was pronounced dead at the scene.
Also, troopers report that one of the officers that was assisting at the scene took a fall on the wet steps of the residence. He hit the back of his head as he fell. When asked, the officer said he was fine. But, that officer was later found unconcious in his patrol car. He was transported from the scene by ambulance. He was found to have suffered a severe concussion. The injury was unrelated to the shooting event.
The Bethel Police Department requested that the Alaska State Troopers and the Alaska Bureau of Investigations take over the investigation of the incident.
The Alaska Bureau of Investigation flew into Bethel on Wednesday morning.