One Anchorage detective says the level of teen violence in the area has reached an “outstanding” level.
“I don’t recall, at a time period since I’ve been in the unit, the level of violence with juveniles being involved in our cases,” said David Cordie, who has spent seven years with the Anchorage Police Department.
So far this year, there have been three homicides involving Anchorage’s youth, says Cordie. The most recent case, an early-morning shooting at Spenard’s Alano Club on July 18, resulted in the death of 18-year-old Alex Thanapong Yu.
APD held a press conference Wednesday, calling for any witnesses to the Alano Club shooting to come forward. There have still been no suspects taken into custody in connection with the fatal shooting, police say.
“We know there were people who saw this crime take place,” said Cordie, the lead investigator in the case, who adds that Yu was shot and killed on the dance floor. “Please, parents, if you have any children that were at the club that morning, talk to them, bring them into the police department.”
Most frustrating, Cordie says, is that more than 100 individuals were estimated to be at the Alano Club when the shooting happened but not many people have come forward to assist police with their investigation. It’s suspected that witnesses are not comfortable coming forward for some reason. Or, Cordie says, perhaps they don’t think their information is relevant.
“Let us determine if it’s valuable to the investigation,” said Cordie, who calls it a daunting task for APD to tackle this case with limited witness help. “But we need that to decipher that to be able to put it together.”
Be it witness statements from those who attended the Alano Club event or photos/videos that were taken at the scene — anything helps, he says.
“Please, enough is enough,” said Cordie. ”Help us stop the violence in this community.”
Community activist Mao Tosi says he has a theory on why kids aren’t coming forward.
“In the media there’s this perception of don’t trust the police. That concern is around to where talking is not something they want to do especially if there’s no relationship,” Tosi said.
There is a “Stop the Violence” block party happening Saturday, Aug. 1 at Northway Mall from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in an effort to build community relationships.
Anyone with information is urged to call APD at 786-8900 or his desk line at 786-8679. To provide an anonymous tip, contact Anchorage Crime Stoppers at 561-STOP.
