At 5:39 am on Sunday morning two Anchorage patrol officers investigating a shots-fired call pulled up to a blue SUV stopped at the outbound Glenn Highway off-ramp at the South  Birchwood exit.

The officers observed the driver outside of his vehicle with the rear hatch opened and armed with a rifle.

The armed suspect advanced on the officers prompting one of the officers to open fire hitting the suspect in the upper body at least once.

After backup arrived life-saving efforts were administered but the suspect would die from his injuries at a local hospital. While administering efforts, the suspect was found to also have a handgun on his person.

The exit ramp from the outbound Glenn Highway to the South Birchwood exit would remain closed for several hours as Crime Scene Team processed the location.

“Per policy the state’s Office of Special Prosecutions (OSP) will review the officer’s use of force and determine whether it was justified.  Once that has been completed, APD Internal Affairs will review the officer’s actions to confirm whether there was any violation of policy,” APD said.

While the suspect has been identified, his name has yet to be released.

It is currently unknown if the suspect was involved in the earlier shots-fired call.

  Alaska, Anchorage, apd, birchwood, fatality, glennhighway, shooting