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Man killed during police encounter remains unidentified
Police on Monday afternoon were still trying to identify a man who died after being shot Sunday night by an Anchorage police officer.
Police Chief Mark Mew said the man did not carry any identification, and police had not firmly established who he was by mid-day.
The encounter began about 10:30 p.m. when someone called police to the Fred Meyer gas station at Northern Lights Boulevard and the Seward Highway, spokeswoman Marlene Lammers said.
A gas station employee told police a man had been flicking a lighter near the gas pumps. The employee had turned off the pumps.
But the man was armed with a knife and refused officers' commands for him to drop the weapon, police said.
The gas station employee saw the man charge toward officers, Lammers said.
A police officer then shot the man, who was taken to a local hospital. He died about 2 a.m. during surgery.
Four officers were at the scene at the time of the shooting, Mew said.
The police chief said he couldn't give any more details about the shooting, including how many shots were fired.
"We still haven't finished some interviews yet," Mew said. "We don't want to pollute people's memories."
The officer who fired his weapon will be on administrative leave for three days, Mew said. He will not immediately be named by police.
Detectives are investigating the case, including whether the shooting was justifiable, Mew said. They'll forward their report to the state district attorney's office or the state Office of Special Investigations and Appeals, he said.
After that, Anchorage police will conduct an internal review as to whether the shooting followed department policies, Mew said.
Anchorage police were involved in two fatal shootings in 2010.
On March 1, 2010, police shot and killed Frederick Jones, 45, after a domestic violence incident off Turnagain Street in West Anchorage. Jones had barricaded himself in his home. He was shot after he came out carrying a shotgun and approached officers.
On April 14, 2010, Joseph Gannon, 48, was killed after threatening police with a handgun in an incident near LaTouche Street and 32nd Avenue.
In both cases, the state Office of Special Prosecutions concluded the shootings were justifiable and the officers were defending themselves, a police spokeswoman said.