Another chapter in Anchorage's Gang-wars

[spacemanspiff]

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/crime...-7844187c.html
Gunman sprays flag football game
MAN SHOT: Players, others at nearby baseball fields take cover.
By MEGAN HOLLAND and KEVIN KLOTT Anchorage Daily News Published: July 10, 2006 Last Modified: July 10, 2006 at 01:47 AM

A gunman opened fire with an "Uzi-style" weapon, shooting from the hip onto a crowded flag football field Sunday evening, wounding at least one person, witnesses and police said.

Shocked bystanders said 30 to 50 shots were fired, spraying bullets across the Anchorage Football Field near Sullivan Arena around 7:45 p.m. in the middle of a pickup game of flag football.

The shots were fired, apparently by a single gunman, in the direction of dozens of people. Baseball players in nearby fields said they heard the crack of bullets flying overhead.

Anchorage Police Sgt. James Triplett, reached at Alaska Regional Hospital, said one man was shot and there were reports of possibly more victims.

Police Lt. Paul Honeman said the victim was 22 years old.

Police said late Sunday that it was still too early in the investigation to speculate about possible motives. It was also unknown whether the shooter hit the person he was shooting at.

By press time, police had not released the injured man's name or details of his wounds, but another witness said the man was shot in the shoulder and below his left eye.

Zach Ziemer, 18, said he was standing on top of the grandstand watching the flag football game when he heard one shot, followed by three, then dozens more.

The gunman, described by Ziemer as a black male with dreads, was shooting from his hip, he said.

After the first shot, players in the middle of their game dropped to the turf. In the brief moments between the next rounds, players scattered for cover in all directions, Ziemer said.

"There were gangsta kids hanging out near the ball field," he said. "You could just tell something was going to happen."

Three baseball players who were playing outfield in a game at Kosinski Fields, close to the football field, hit the ground when they heard shots. Other players fled to the dugouts yelling, "Get down, get down." The outfielders eventually crawled to cover and said they heard "zingers" flying over their heads.

Milt Pagano, standing in a nearby parking lot, said he heard about 50 shots, then saw two SUVs take off.

Honeman said a dark-colored SUV sped south on Gambell Street.

Witnesses said multiple vehicles fled the scene before police arrived.

"It was Fourth of July all over again," said Nick Mincks, another witness. "Everyone was running for cover. I was ducking behind the wall."

After the shooting, the victim lay on the 43-yard line of the turf field. As he went in and out of consciousness, a dozen players took off their jerseys and threw them over him for warmth.

A man who said he was the victim's brother held him, telling him everything was going to be OK.

"I thought we were playing football, yo," the brother said.

"They were shooting buck wild," he said to the crowd standing around the victim. "They shot my brother."

"I swear to God, we are going to get them."

Hundreds of spectators, players and skateboarders were gathered at the fields Sunday afternoon, enjoying the sunny July weather. Two Anchorage Adult Baseball League games at Kosinski Fields and the championship game of an American Legion Baseball tournament at Mulcahy Stadium were in progress.

Donna Fox, a nurse who was watching one of the games at Kosinski, said she rushed to the football field because someone said a man had been shot. As she ran, she saw two men climb over the western fence of the field.

"They ran into the woods with blood dripping from their shirts," she said.

"They will wind up somewhere -- in the hospital," she predicted.

Brian Pratt, an Anchorage Adult Baseball League umpire, was calling balls and strikes when he heard the shots.

"I was thinking fireworks," he said.

A former police officer in Washington, Pratt hurried to the injured man's side and urged people to back away.

"He wasn't conscious when I got here," Pratt said. Someone yelled that the shooting victim was going into shock and to get blankets.

Stephen Deutsch, who lives about six blocks away, said he was barbecuing in his yard.

"I heard pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, and then suddenly (a bullet) hit the stove," he said.

After the shooting, spectators and players from the various games gathered up their gear, loaded their vehicles and quickly left the fields. Police rolled out yellow crime scene tape and fanned out to search nearby Chester Creek woods.

All games were canceled.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Megan Holland can be reached at mrholland@adn.com. Kevin Klott can be reached at kklott@adn.com.

[Wildalaska]

yeah well its hitting the fan already. Good for the alphabet boys!

WildyouwatchsomegunshopsareintroubleAlaska

[BCBR]

Hard to fathom that one.
Yeah ,be sure to blame the seller of the phar arm and not the killer who pulled the trigger.
I wonder if there were any open/concealed carriers present,or close by.

[Wildalaska]

That right I blame the seller as well as the user.

These guys arent entitled to own em and they arent stealing them.

Far as I am concerned, the supplier of the firearm is an accessory.

Bet if they charged like that the straw man prob would dissapear fast

WildbutheythatsmyownschtickAlaska

PS...you think under the circumstanc es described shooting back is OK?

[cpileri]

OK, who was the shooter? what affiliations? known record?

Who was out there? ex girlfriend? rival gang? wrong religious group?

Come on folks, there's more to the story!

That shooter was wildly endangering a huge number of people, to be sure. So there is that foactor regardless of who the triggerman and victims are.

Still... need more details.

How long before 'THEY' plan a stunt like this in Vermont?

C-

[Crosshair]

Wow, 30 to 50 shots and one one person is known to have been hurt? I think we should be glad that the shooter was an idiot. I know how good of a shot I am with some of my guns. Most all of us here are well aware that this person could not have been aiming at all since even a crappy shot should could have gotten more than one person. I hope they catch the perp and let the poor abused gun be taken into a nice loving home.

[spacemanspiff]

At the very least, this incident completely disproves the antis argument that 'assault style guns made to fire from the hip are more deadly'.

[spacemanspiff]

As far as the rest of the story is concerned, yes there is much more the police have not divulged. We have no idea if this is related to the recent outburst of gang violence involving Pacific Islanders (Samoans). No clue if its drug related.

I too want to know who it was that was shot. I used to play pickup football games some years back, and many of the guys I played with still play on Saturdays and Sundays.

This might just be a random event, could be some guy upset at one of the guys playing football for messing around with his woman.

My understanding based on what I've heard second and third hand is that there are local gunshops around town violating federal law with whom they sell guns to. BCBR, if you knew a shop was allowing straw purchases, of sizable quantities of guns, would you prefer that that shop be allowed to continue doing business in that fashion? When its your kids that are caught in the crossfire of a gangwar, and the investigation reveals the guns used were bought at the shop you knew was allowing straw purchases, are you going to stand behind the shop and give it your full support?

[JR47]

I believe that the problem lies with the fact that ALL gunshops will be painted with the same brush. That is the anti's modus operandi. Now, to me, the fool that sells illegally needs to be taken away quietly, and put down like a rabid animal.

[BCBR]

I have trid 5 times to respnd to this,pm'd Wild 3 times the board throws me off,also tried to post a reply same trouble.
So I am trying agin.

[Eghad]

If gunshops are making straw man sales and know it they need to be put out of business.

[spacemanspiff]

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/crime...-7847401c.html
Police suspect 3 guns in shooting
Critically wounded man was caught in the crossfire

By MEGAN HOLLAND and KATIE PESZNECKER Anchorage Daily News ublished: July 11, 2006 Last Modified: July 11, 2006 at 02:44 AM

Police investigating Sunday's football-stadium free-for-all shooting say that more than one gunman may have been involved in an assault that critically wounded one man and put hundreds of ballplayers and spectators at grave risk.

Authorities identified the wounded man as Daniel Leituala, a 21-year-old recreational football player who police said was caught in the crossfire. Leituala was injured when dozens of bullets zinged through the summer evening crowds at the Anchorage Football Stadium, Mulcahy Stadium and the four-diamond complex at Kosinski Fields. Leituala was shot in the face and shoulder and was in critical care at Alaska Regional Hospital on Monday night.

Police announced at a press conference at their headquarters Monday afternoon that no arrests have been made in the dramatic event. Investigators refused to reveal the details they did know.

Deputy Chief Ross Plummer said police have identified suspects they are trying to locate. Plummer said he believes those involved range in age from 16 years old to mid-20s.

He would not say how many gunmen he believes were involved. Police would only say that shell casings of three different calibers were found at the scene.

Plummer said the shooting may have started after an altercation between players in a pick-up football game in the football and soccer stadium near Sullivan Arena around 7:45 p.m.

Anchorage has seen a rise in crimes by gangs that are often ethnically aligned, but police said Sunday's incident appeared not to be about gangs. Rather, they pointed to another trend -- young men with a reckless tendency to settle disputes with guns.

"There were different races on both teams," Plummer said. "And an incident occurred during one of the plays in which some individuals started an argument. It turned into a disturbance, and at some point, someone pulled out a gun and began firing into the crowd."

Only Leituala, a football player, was gunned down. Plummer said he was "in the wrong place at the wrong time." Others in the line of fire fled, jumping into dugouts and over fences. Witnesses at the time said there may have been other victims who ran into the nearby woods of Chester Creek with blood dripping from their wounds, but police say no other victims have shown up at local hospitals.

"There is always the possibility that someone else was hit and is either trying to self-treat or get someone to treat them," police Chief Walt Monegan said. "We are hoping for a little common sense and prudence -- if they do need medical assistance that they seek it."

Witnesses at the time said 30 to 50 shots were fired.

Sgt. Slawomir Markiewicz said Leituala is an avid football player with a wife and young child.

Chief "Willie" Leuluso'o Leatutufu, head of the Polynesian Association of Alaska, attended the Monday press conference and vowed support to the Police Department in its search for the shooter or shooters.

The Polynesian community has made headlines recently with chiefs, religious leaders and elders targeting Anchorage's gang problem head on. About 30 percent of Anchorage gang incidents involve youths of Polynesian descent, police have said.

Leatutufu said Leituala was of Samoan ethnicity.

"This is a different environment now," Monegan said. "It's unfortunate. Years ago, if we got into a beef in a game, we would shove each other around or something like that. Unfortunately, now people are reaching for guns."

On Monday, witnesses were recounting the scene from the night before. At Mulcahy, the city's premier baseball facility, the championship game of the four-day BP Exploration American Legion Tournament had just begun when the shooting broke out. Two invited Alabama teams, one from Dothan, the other from Tuscaloosa, were playing for the trophy after defeating five Anchorage teams and another from California. The ballplayers were all of high school age.

Jackie Lincoln of Anchorage had spent the tournament in a booth atop the grandstand, announcing the names of batters as they came to the plate and playing between-innings music. But in the first inning of the Dothan-Tuscaloosa game, she suddenly realized she needed to call out a warning -- she heard successive popping sounds from the direction of the football field over the left-field fence.

"I can see the football stadium, and I saw the people there scattering, and it dawned on me what it was," Lincoln said. She told the players to clear the field, but no one seemed to get it.

"So I yelled 'Guns, guns, get down!' I just yelled at the people to get down because I was worried about kids.

"I didn't want to scare everybody. I probably did when I yelled. But my concern was getting those kids off that field because all that is out there is wood (fencing), and those bullets can come through that wood in a heartbeat."

She couldn't tell exactly where the shots were coming from, which made it even more frightening, she said. The firing was coming in quick bursts.

"It wasn't just a handgun going off. It was scary," she said. "Very scary."

Reached by cell phone, Frank Hannah, coach of the Tuscaloosa team, called the night "quite an eventful evening."

"We were in the bottom of the first inning and one of our batters had just struck out. We heard the gunshots going off and we thought it was firecrackers -- that one of the guys on the other team set firecrackers off because our guy struck out."

Hannah, with 32 years of military service, quickly realized he was listening to gunfire.

"After the first round of fire, the announcer ... said 'guns guns, take cover' and everybody kind of fell flat down in the stands."

"We all hit the deck. A couple of shots went through the outfield fence. We could hear some shots zipping through the grass. As many times as they shot, I don't see how several people didn't get shot."

At the football field and around the Kosinski Fields, where baseball games were also under way, the shooting sent spectators dashing for cover -- crawling across the ground, diving behind cars and garbage cans or just running. Parents screamed for their children to get down.

Zack Dixon and some buddies were in the parking lot near the football stadium, eager to videotape themselves inline skating down a new railing -- a tricky but fun maneuver, the 16-year-old said.

"I was about to film my friend going for another shot and it was right about when he was going to jump on the rail that we heard the first two shots," Dixon said. "First I thought they were firecrackers, but it was after that I realized, no it isn't. So I started to run up the parking lot."

He crouched behind a parked car for cover and saw a black SUV pull out. Soon after, he started filming again, catching some of the chaotic scene.

"There's a lot of panic," Dixon said. "There's a guy trying to call the cops but apparently they weren't picking up and he was just yelling. People were all gathering around the body and someone said 'look someone else is shot over there,' and all these people went running."

After the cease-fire, the American Legion coaches met and decided to call the game. "The kids playing outfield for the other team, they heard the shots when they came through the wooden fence and nobody wanted to play after that. Everybody wanted to go home."

Tournament officials called it a draw, declaring both teams winners.

The two Alabama teams play each other back home several times a year anyway.

"So we just said heck, we'll meet and play in a cornfield somewhere when we get home where we won't get shot at."

The incident was unfortunate but didn't ruin the teams' Alaska trips, said Hannah, a first-time visitor. Before the tournament, they played another tourney in Kenai. On Monday, their last day in Alaska, Hannah's team rode the tram to the summit at Alyeska Resort.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daily News reporter Megan Holland can be reached at mrholland@adn.com. Daily News reporter Katie Pesznecker can be reached at kpesznecker@adn.com.

[spacemanspiff]

So there we have it. Not gang-related, just punks who pack heat to what was supposed to be a friendly flag football game.

However, this one, as well as the self defense shooting posted about previously in another thread, will be put up there on the 'tragic gang-related gun deaths list'.

[Cosmoline]

Yeah, right. Not related to Samoan gangs but a Samoan just HAPPENS to be the target. I'm not that stupid. The powers that be are once again spinning like mad to try to avoid blaming the Samoans, when this whole thing practically screams Samoan gangland shooting. But the APD has been totally unable to make any headway against them, so they're pretending the gangs don't exist. They won't even name the gangs!

I'm also very happy to hear the cops have narrowed the suspects down to "THREE GUNS." Put those guns in prison for a long time! I'm writing a letter to the ADN about that headline. They need to stop pushing their liberal agenda.

Whether it's from the press, the politicos or the cops, we're being fed a line of bravo sierra. I've upgraded to a high cap .40 to help cut through it.

I suspect the guns are coming from thefts. I don't know any local gunstores that will sell to Samoan gang bangers.

[Wildalaska]

I've upgraded to a high cap .40 to help cut through it.

What are you going to do fire back with a screaming crowd running around? Cut me a break Cosmo, I have more worries than you Im the one doing UNARMED security at such cultural events as AFC with all of the do rag gang hanging out...hey maybe thats why they have me and Spiff doing the wanding

I'm also very happy to hear the cops have narrowed the suspects down to "THREE GUNS." Put those guns in prison for a long time!

Megan wrote the headline (or her editor did)...next time I schmooze with her I'll mention it

I don't know any local gunstores that will sell to Samoan gang bangers.

I do. The Feds do too. Ive seen more than one BS sale in this town and I know of many more.

The powers that be are once again spinning like mad to try to avoid blaming the Samoans, when this whole thing practically screams Samoan gangland shooting.

No this whole thing involves criminals who happen to be Samoan (or Black or white or whatever)....I cant understand your angst over samoans....

WildwhatisitAlaska

[spacemanspiff]

After seeing the pictures from the Daily Worker, and from various handheld vid camera from witnesses played on the news, it really looked like just a bunch of people, various ethnic backgrounds.

Not every Samoan is a gangbanger, Cosmoline. Nor is every black or latino. By all current reports, this shooting was over something that happened during the game.

As much as I despise gangs and the violence they tend to attract/dish out, I am willing to call this a coincidence. Anchorage has a really large Samoan community. A lot of them are involved in local sports. Look at your high school football teams, theres a lot of Pacific Islander names on those rosters. They regularly compete in the AFC and Boxing nights (thursdays in anchorage, tuesdays out in Wasilla).

[spacemanspiff]

I have more worries than you Im the one doing UNARMED security at such cultural events as AFC with all of the do rag gang hanging out...hey maybe thats why they have me and Spiff doing the wanding

Funny thing is, so far, no one tries to smuggle in weapons. Its always booze/drugs. The most we have to do is send people back to put their leatherman back in their car.

And who do we get to kick out of the AFC for causing trouble? Drunk white guys.

[Cosmoline]

The problem is primarily Samoan and other island gangs. That's not to say we don't have many other gangs in town. Anchorage was practically founded by the mob. Russian Jack beat a man to death before going legit. The place has a long and storied history of gangs. And most of them present little real threat. I've lived next to meth cooks and Asian gangsters and had no problems with them. These island gangs, though, have less interest in making money and more interest in protecting their honor by spraying lead all over. They're horrible shots and they come from a community with no legitimate gun culture.

In the mean time, continuing efforts to avoid even naming the guilty are not helping matters. Neither are the mayor's idiotic feel good sessions. Neither, for that matter, are your apparent efforts to make sure nobody even has a leatherman at sporting events. As we just saw, once again, if you disarm the law abiding guess who will be left with the guns?

I have more worries than you Im the one doing UNARMED security at such cultural events as AFC with all of the do rag gang hanging out...hey maybe thats why they have me and Spiff doing the wanding

You're crazy! I wouldn't want to go into one of those holes with anything less than a big fifty. I hope I don't wake up one morning to read about a shootout at the entrance to the AFC. What's the justification for going unarmed to such a place, anyway? Are you trying to make some bizarre political point?

I do. The Feds do too. Ive seen more than one BS sale in this town and I know of many more

Who? I hope it's nobody I do business with.

[spacemanspiff]

Its the policy of the building owner. Private property owners rights supercede your right to be armed. And since events such as the AFC or Boxing have each and every patron wanded with a metal detector, and contents of pockets/purses searched, there is no one that brings a weapon into the arena/convention center at those events. Provided of course, the person wanding is doing their job.

[Cosmoline]

That's yet another reason never to set foot there. What I don't understand is why you've agreed to work as unarmed security in such a place, especially with the gang wars heating up. I hope they're paying you a lot.

there is no one that brings a weapon into the arena/convention center at those events. Provided of course, the person wanding is doing their job.

Which really makes a nice opportunity for one gangsta to shoot at another as he's coming out of the gates, doesn't it?

[spacemanspiff]

Working such events is not only fun, but we get paid to watch AFC, Thursday night boxing, Aces games, Seawolves games, concerts, theres the upcoming arena football next spring we'll get to watch.

Its also increased my social life, now when I go to a bar, I see a dozens of people that i have met through wanding at the door or checking id on wet sides of the arena. Not to mention I also now know on a first name basis bouncers at almost every bar, which leads to never having to pay cover charges, free drinks, and the guarantee I'll not get hassled.

If someone wants to camp out and shoot gangbangers as they leave the arena, they'll do it. We exit via a different door anyways. And the parking lots are nearly empty by the time we get done.

[Cosmoline]

Just watch your back! Frankly Anchorage bars are also on my top ten list of places to never go. Too many people with too few teeth

[silicon wolverine]

Gawd! it sound like the wild west up there!

SW

[paratrooper]

Is the "high Hat Club" just off 4th and "C" still open . Mays Cafe right around the corner was a popular b'fast spot after a night of frolicking . (BTW we're talking early 60's)

[Wildalaska]

Frankly Anchorage bars are also on my top ten list of places to never go. Too many people with too few teeth

Funny...the places me and Spiff go to have girls that almost rival LA's...but they are there to see us Things like a clean shirt and a haircut make a difference

You're seeing the toothless ones? We KNOW where you hang out

Gawd! it sound like the wild west up there!

Well at the store tonight nobody batted an eye at the sight of me buying ham and potato salad with my Colt Defender nestled behind my hip

Is the "high Hat Club" just off 4th and "C" still open . Mays Cafe right around the corner was a popular b'fast spot after a night of frolicking . (BTW we're talking early 60's)

Dwontown is now the tourist district and the gangbangers dont go there All the good clubs are closed, except for two sleazy "native" bars where no one has teeth

WildpeacefultonightsofarAlaska