Sunday, May 19, 2013

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Officer Involved Shooting Leaves Suspect Dead Tuesday Morning
Carl Richard Bowie III was shot at by police after ramming their cars
By Heather Hintze
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ANCHORAGE - A man is dead after an officer involved shooting Tuesday morning. The suspect is identified as 25-year old Carl Richard Bowie III. Authorities said he was on parole after a robbery conviction and wasn't complying with the conditions set, but couldn't say what those conditions are because they're confidential.

Officers said they received a call around 10 a.m. Tuesday that a man was looking into cars at the Dimond Center parking lot. Bowie fled the scene in a truck police say was reported stolen at 8:15 that morning.

Police deployed spike strips around 88th and Lake Otis to stop Bowie, but the tactic didn't work. At that point the pursuit was called off because it was too dangerous.

"We're always walking that fine line. How far do you want to go to make an arrest, how much risk to do expect the public to have to endure, how do you balance the two? That's what street supervisors do is constantly weigh the danger of letting the suspect go, as opposed to the danger of the public if you continue the effort to capture him," said Police Chief Mark Mew.

Officers caught up with Bowie at a subdivision on 53rd and Windflower, where they used their patrol cars to pin him in. That's when they say Bowie started crashing into the cars with the stolen truck.

"The implications suggest the officers were being rammed and were in danger of being killed or injured themselves, so they have to stop the car to prevent themselves from being injured or the suspect injuring someone else."

Two officers opened fire after Bowie hit two patrol cars. Bowie lost control, crashed the truck, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

A woman in the car was not injured and was taken to the police station for questioning.

APD will release the names of the officers who fired their guns in three days.