Col. Audie Holloway, head of the troopers, said seven troopers were on scene because the incident happened at a shift change. York had been threatening to kill a wheelchair-bound man and the man had been begging for his life in the house at 5816 E. Atka Drive, about Mile 8 of the Fishhook.
Holloway said troopers heard in the background that York was saying, “Suicide by cop.”
  
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“She might have been headed over there,” he said about the timely arrival of troopers.
Holloway said the relationship between York and the man she lived with was unclear. They had been together for 15 years, he said, but York may have been the man’s caretaker. Troopers would not name the man she threatened.
Dan Lathrop, who lives across the street from where the shooting occurred, said he woke up in the middle of the night to what he thinks was probably a gunshot. He said that right after what he thought was a gunshot an officer showed up, followed quickly by an ambulance and more troopers.
He said he doesn’t know York or the man she threatened and wasn’t even sure how long they’d been there. He said he thinks the property is a rental.
Lathrop said he’s been in the neighborhood since about 2001.
“It’s generally quiet,” he said. The only other crime he can remember was “probably six or seven years ago, somebody had a rental and they sold all the appliances and bailed, but we didn’t even see that one either.”
Looking out his window at 3:45 p.m., Lathrop said the investigation was evidently still in full swing with three law enforcement vehicles on scene.
Holloway said that when York exited the home she had the shotgun and also a semi-automatic pistol. According to an AST press release, troopers tried to get her to put them down and shot her three different times with Tasers to no effect.
After she pointed the shotgun at troopers, York was shot multiple times in the incident, troopers report, and was declared dead on scene. A check of Alaska court records turned up no prior criminal cases filed against York.
During the incident, one trooper was injured, according to the press release. The trooper was treated for “what appears to be a minor gunshot wound” at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center and has since been released.
Troopers say the five troopers who fired their weapons were given three days’ administrative leave and will not be identified for three days as per department policy.
The last time troopers shot and killed a suspect in the Valley was in early February when troopers Alfred “Skip” Chadwell and Kevin S. Blanchette fired on a woman at a doctor’s office on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway.
That woman, Debra L. Torrey, 38, of Wasilla, had become distraught during a meeting with her psychiatrist. She fired a round in the office and the psychiatrist asked her to leave, locking the door behind her. Similar to Saturday’s incident, troopers who responded to the scene asked Torrey to put her gun down and she didn’t comply, eventually pointing it at them, whereupon she was shot and killed.
In the wake of that incident, trooper Sgt. Mike Burkmire said that all officer-involved shootings are investigated just as any shooting death would be. The state’s Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals then reviews the investigation. In March, troopers announced the investigation into February’s shooting found the use of force justified.
Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.
Comments
6 comment(s)Thank you Troopers and Law Enforcement.. wrote on Nov 16, 2009 7:58 AM:
DANNY wrote on Nov 15, 2009 10:25 PM:
you kids at home wrote on Nov 15, 2009 6:51 PM:
never, NEVER point a weapon at a trooper.
comply with commands. "
P.S. wrote on Nov 15, 2009 9:58 AM:
Paul wrote on Nov 14, 2009 6:15 PM:
Deborah wrote on Nov 14, 2009 3:13 PM: