Alaskan Kills Half of Town's Police Force

Then barricades himself in his house; standoff ongoing
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 30, 2010 12:25 PM CDT
Alaskan Kills Half of Town's Police Force
This combo made from undated photos provided by the Hoonah Police Dept. shows officer Tony Wallace, left, and officer Matt Tokuoka.   (AP Photo/Hoonah Police Deparment)

A SWAT team and dozens of other law enforcement officers were locked in a standoff this morning with a man suspected of murdering two police officers in the town of Hoonah, Alaska—which happens to amount to half the town’s cops. Police suspect 45-year-old John Marvin Jr. “ambushed” the two officers late Saturday night. He then barricaded himself in his home, in a standoff that, according to the latest AP report, is still ongoing today.

With the police force so badly depleted, Hoonah called in Alaska State Troopers, US Forest Service and Wildlife Troopers, and even the Coast Guard. They’re urging the area’s 800 residents to stay in their homes; several businesses have closed. “We heard a gunshot and … looked out the window and he saw one policeman down,” one witness told KTUU. “Another policeman was trying to drag him away and the suspect shot him twice. And then he just took off.” (More police shooting stories.)

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