ANCHORAGE — A police officer wounded in a shooting in downtown Anchorage over the weekend is recovering after undergoing surgery twice, police said.
Police spokeswoman Jennifer Castro wrote in an email Sunday that the unidentified officer is recovering at the hospital after undergoing the two surgeries on Saturday, reported KTVA-TV.
“The officer does not seem to have life-threatening wounds, but we know only too well that how things like this can turn,” said police Chief Chris Tolley on Saturday.
He referenced Sgt. Allen Brandt, a Fairbanks officer who died suddenly from complications during eye surgery 12 days after he was shot multiple times.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the officer,” said Tolley. “We’ve seen this across our state, we’ve seen this across our nation and around the world. I’m overwhelmed by the public’s outreach to the police department.”
Police have described Saturday’s shooting as an ambush.
The officer was responding to reports of a theft and was pulling over his cruiser when a man with a gun started firing, police have said.
The officer got out of the cruiser and the suspect continued firing as the officer was on the ground, said Castro.
Another officer responded and returned fire at the shooter.
The department has not released the names of the officers involved or the suspect.
Castro said no identifying information about the wounded officer would be released for several days because he had fired back at the suspect.
“The investigation is ongoing,” she added. “We still have some interviews to conduct and evidence to process through.”
