A 37-year-old man, who turned himself in to Fairbanks police, was taken into custody Saturday evening, following a shooting that left another man with critical injuries.
According to the Fairbanks Police Department, the shooting was reported at 3:57 p.m., Saturday. When police arrived at 612 11th Avenue they found Vernon Smoke, 36, with a gunshot wound to his abdomen.
Smoke was transported to a local hospital where he was taken into surgery. FPD said he was still in surgery at 8:49 p.m., and plans were made to send him to Seattle for further treatment. It was immediately unknown what Smoke’s condition was Sunday morning.
Less than an hour after police were notified of the shooting, Adrian Mendizabal called 911 and reported that he shot Smoke accidentally, police said.
Fairbanks police and Alaska State Troopers contacted and arrested Medizabal without incident, and recovered a 12-gauge shotgun.
“Mendizabal told detectives he had ‘bartered’ for the shotgun a few days ago,” police wrote in a release. “After hearing on the street that Smoke and other individuals were out to get him he went to the apartment to confront them first. Mendizabal reported he entered the apartment with the shotgun and sat in a chair in the bedroom where he waited for Smoke. Mendizabal reported when Smoke entered the bedroom he put the shotgun on ‘safe’ and the gun just went off.”
Mendizabal told detectives that after the shooting he ran, got rid of the gun, and then turned himself in. He explained that he was never threatened and didn’t act in self-defense. Mendizabal said the gun was pointed at Smoke when it went off.
Mendizabal was charged with first-degree assault and tampering with physical evidence.
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