Shoot Out

My parents called me the other day asking about a big shoot out up here that was on the national news.  It wasn’t actually big by anyone’s standards except Kotzebue’s, but it was a rare and intriguing occurrence around town. 

On Sunday morning, during prayer request time at church Ruth said to pray for the troopers that had been shot on the bridge that morning and that they would catch the shooter that was still on the loose.  This was the first I had heard of it, and from the way she said it, I assumed this lone gunman was just walking the streets.  I thought it was kind of odd that someone could shoot two policemen and escape in a town as small as Kotz.

Later Sunday afternoon, I walked down to the bridge to investigate.  Just about everyone in town had lined their cars up along the side of the water to watch the scene unfold. 

They had blocked off both bridges and there were police and trooper cars surrounding another truck.

The next day, I found out that the man was sitting in his car stopped on the bridge when the troopers pulled up.  After he shot them, backup was called in.  They even called the SWAT team from Anchorage.  One of the troopers was treated here at Maniilaq, but the other had to be flown down to Anchorage.  He is ok though.  So, the guy was sitting in his truck surrounded by law enforcement all day long.  His friends came to try and talk him down, but he stood his ground.

The standoff ended Sunday night.  The shooter ended up killing himself.  The whole thing was tragic and the talk of the town for most of the week.

I was personally sad, because I was supposed to go hunting Sunday afternoon, but we couldn’t get across the bridges and out of town.  They kept the bridges closed all day Monday and part of Tuesday to finish investigating.  This is a rare occurrence here, so I guess they wanted to make sure they handled it thoroughly and correctly.

So, sad blog.  Sorry.

  

Teaser:  more fishing has occurred.