Law enforcement officers shoot and kill armed Wasilla man in standoff, troopers say
Sep. 4—Law enforcement officers shot and killed a 63-year-old Wasilla man they were trying to arrest Friday afternoon after he refused to go to jail and pointed a gun in their direction, Alaska State Troopers said.
Investigators with the troopers' Child Abuse Investigation Unit arrived at a Wasilla home around 1:45 p.m. Friday to arrest Jimmie Janeway on suspicion of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor and second-degree sexual assault, troopers said in an online report. The residence was a unit in a fourplex located in the vicinity of Wasilla-Fishhook Road and East Snohomish Drive, troopers spokesman Tim DeSpain said.
"When investigators knocked on the door, Janeway answered the door with a gun to his head and stated he would not go to jail. He refused to drop the gun and Investigators attempted negotiations without success," troopers wrote in the report.
Troopers said that around 2:50 p.m. they and Wasilla police tried to use less lethal force — including a Taser and beanbag rounds, according to DeSpain — to take Janeway into custody, but it had minimal effect. That's when he pointed his gun "in the direction of law enforcement on scene," troopers said.
Law enforcement officers fired on Janeway, and he died from his injuries after attempts to save his life weren't successful, troopers said. It wasn't immediately clear how many officers shot at Janeway. DeSpain said that information would be released in an update Monday afternoon, 72 hours after the shooting.
No one else was injured, and Janeway was the unit's sole occupant, DeSpain said. Medics were already at the scene, according to troopers.
Janeway's next of kin have been notified.
The Alaska Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting, and the law enforcement officers who shot at Janeway will be identified after 72 hours according to policy, troopers said.
