The Anchorage Police Department has identified the officers involved in the Saturday morning shooting in Muldoon and has released the names after three days in accordance to police policy.
APD says senior patrol officer Eric Nowak, who has served for eight years, and senior patrol officer Julnudda Jackson, who has served for five and half years, were the officers who fired their service weapons.
The most recent officer involved shooting happened on the corner of East 4th Ave. and State St. when a stolen pickup truck rammed a police car. Police shot the truck during the incident, but released few details on the specifics saying the
the investigation by the Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals remained ongoing. Three suspects were arrested without injuries.
A man, who didn't want to be identified and lives close to where the shooting happened, says he heard police tell the people inside the truck to get out before the shooting happened.
"First, the guys put his hands up to get out, then the passenger told him to go and he dropped his hands and they, (police) told him don't do it, but he put it in gear and took off."
In an interview with KTUU, the neighbor also says he heard two to five shots. Charging documents alluded to how many shots were fired in the incident, but says, "no persons were struck by bullets."
Ryan Robert Portlock, 26, was charged with second degree theft, first degree vehicle theft, first degree attempted vehicle theft, unlawful possession, and third degree criminal mischief. Cory Michael Wolf, 26, and Amber Jobell Myers, 29, were each charged with criminal mischief in the fifth degree.
As of May 14, there have been four Anchorage police officer involved shootings and two were deadly. On February 19, police shot Carl Richard Bowie III, 25, following a chase in the Lake Otis area where Bowie rammed two police vehicles with a stolen pickup truck. On April 5, Officers shot Detlef Wulf, 27, after he allegedly pointed a handgun at police in Fairview.
In 2012, nine officers were involved in five shooting incidents. This year, seven officers were involved with the four officer involved shootings and APD Chief Mark Mew says, "it's concerning."
Chief Mew says Anchorage police along with the FBI and state leaders will meet in a few days to examine cases for common threads with the elevated level of violence against police and the number of officer involved shootings.
"I'm not prepared to say right now whether we're doing something different or the public is different or a combination of both, but certainly the trend has captured all of our attention - yours, mine, the state's," Chief Mew said. "We're quite committed to digging to see if we can turn this trend around."
Editor's Note: KTUU's Rebecca Palsha contributed to this story.
Contact Neil Torquiano