ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A 37-year-old man was charged Friday with three counts of attempted murder after authorities say he exchanged gunfire with police at an Anchorage hotel, wounding an officer who was working on a burglary investigation.
Jason Barnum was arrested Friday after his release from a hospital for treatment of his own gunshot wounds, authorities said.
Police spokesman Lt. Dave Parker said the Anchorage man was in a hotel room bathroom Thursday when he opened fire on officers who were detaining two other suspects. A bullet grazed one of the officers, who was treated and released Thursday. His name was not released.
At least one officer returned fire and struck Barnum in the arms or hand.
None of the other suspects in the hotel room had been charged Friday morning.
"They're still working on that aspect, but the hospital was going to release him (Barnum), so we said, 'Nah. We better take him,'" Parker said.
The charges were first reported by KTUU-TV.
The mayhem in the hotel room began at about 11:30 a.m.
The three officers were investigating a series of burglaries that had occurred around Anchorage, Parker said. A vehicle connected to the burglaries was spotted in the parking lot of the Merrill Field Inn, authorities said.
At least two officers entered a hotel room on the second floor, and after questioning a man and woman inside, placed them in handcuffs.
Without warning, shots rang out from the bathroom, authorities said. At least one officer fired back.
The officers hustled out of the hotel room, taking the couple with them, Parker said.
"They had to grab the suspects and get the heck out of the room while the shooting was going on," Parker said.
The report of an officer wounded drew a swarm of other officers. Police evacuated guests from other hotel rooms and closed Fifth Avenue, the main road leading from north Anchorage to downtown.
SWAT officers approached the hotel room at about 1 p.m., and Barnum surrendered.
The wounded man was cuffed with his arms behind him. He was walked down to the ground level, placed on a stretcher and taken to the hospital.
Information from: KTUU-TV, http://www.ktuu.com