Last updated 11:50 p.m.
A suspect is in custody after a 48-year-old assistant district attorney — a former Washington state representative — was shot and killed in Barrow Monday, officials say.
Brian Sullivan’s death is being investigated as a homicide, according to a press release from the North Slope Borough. His next-of-kin have been notified of the shooting, which reportedly occurred at 5318 Laura Madison St. around 10 p.m.
Court officials say 47-year-old Ronald “Bun Bun” Fischer is being held in connection with Sullivan’s death.
Court records show Fischer has an extensive criminal history dating back to 1985. Most recently, in September 2014, he was charged with several felonies, including kidnapping (using his young daughter as a shield/hostage) and third-degree assault.
Screen shot from a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management report for Shell, where officials say Fischer worked as a contractor.
Nick Dunbar, who has lived in Barrow for 35 years, lives next door to Fischer. Dunbar says he’s still getting used to the idea murder happened so close to home. He says rumors started flying around town Monday night as people tried to piece together what happened.
“I’m kind of surprised and it’s really sad because I know them both,” said Dunbar. “I know their kids. It’s sad. Everybody lose. It’s a stupid situation.”
He says he knows both Fischer and his wife and knew Sullivan by his face, adding that the attorney was well-liked.
In a message to KTVA, Fischer’s niece, April, says her family members “are all in shock and saddened.”
“Our family extends our deepest condolences to the Sullivan family,” she wrote.
At the request of the acting chief of police for the borough, Alaska State Troopers are helping with the investigation, said AST spokeswoman Megan Peters in an email.
“[The North Slope Borough Police Department] has requested the Alaska State Troopers, Alaska Bureau of Investigation (ABI) to respond and take responsibility for the investigation and to work closely with the Department of Law, Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals,” Peters wrote.
Sullivan previously served in the military and has been in Barrow since the spring of 2012, said Richard Svobodny, deputy attorney general of the state Department of Law’s criminal division. He also served in the Washington state House, representing the 29th District as a Democrat, according to Gerry Sheehan, the Legislative Information Center coordinator for the Washington state Legislature.
In Alaska, he crossed party lines and was one of the district chairs for the Alaska Republican Party, according to the group’s Facebook page.
Svobodny described Sullivan as someone very involved in his community.
“There are some places where a person goes into a small community and they kind of isolate themselves doing the work. Brian Sullivan was not that type of person. He was involved in the community, he was always at community events,” said Svobodny, adding that Sullivan had attended a sporting event earlier Monday evening and was active in a local church.
Svobodny recalled how when he interviewed Sullivan for the position he had expressed a strong desire to live and work in a community with a rich culture.
“That’s the kind of prosecutor we’re looking for, someone who can get into the community and know the community,” he said. “Most of our lawyers are like that but sometimes we get people who are just doing it for a job, but that wasn’t Brian. He was there to help the community.”
Sullivan was one of two assistant district attorneys in Barrow handling criminal cases, Svobodny said. The other is on vacation now, and an assistant attorney general was sent to the city to pick up Sullivan’s caseload and also assist authorities with the homicide investigation.