Anchorage police say a woman died after being assaulted by her son in a house on Cache Drive on Friday afternoon. An hours-long standoff followed, and when police were finally able to enter the home, they found the suspect dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Michelle Goss lives across the street from where the assault took place and watched the police operation unfold.
“They walked in, it seems through the front door, and they carried a woman out,” Goss said. “She was carried out by three different people. They didn’t have her on a stretcher or anything, it didn’t look like they had time to, and she was just limp.”
The Anchorage Police Department responded to the residence around 1 p.m. after receiving a report of a domestic disturbance. A standoff with the suspect continued for about five hours before police deployed gas.
“They started kicking in the front window on the downstairs part of the house and immediately started shooting smoke into the house and gas,” Goss said.
The house where the standoff occurred is across the road from Tudor Elementary School, which went into “stay put” mode. A couple of hours into the incident, school was let out and students were allowed to leave the building on buses or with parents.
Police say they found the male suspect dead inside the home around 6 p.m.
Goss, who is 40 weeks pregnant, began having contractions around the time police arrived at the scene.
“I called APD and I was like, ‘Hey I’m here, I’m having contractions. I don’t need to leave right now but want you to know I exist,’” Goss said. “So she told the other dispatchers I was here and if I need help to call 911, otherwise I was okay to stay.”
APD says the suspect also assaulted his adult sister, who was treated at a nearby hospital for her injuries. None of the family members are being identified until next-of-kin can be notified, police say.