Anchorage man charged in August homicide at homeless camp

An Anchorage man was indicted last week on murder and attempted murder charges tied to a homicide at a homeless camp last month and a shootout with police during his subsequent arrest.

Police say 32-year-old Michael Alto was shot and wounded by officers after he fired at them on Aug. 23, a day after investigators connected him to the fatal shooting of 48-year-old Carl Washington at a camp along a busy stretch of East Fifth Avenue near Karluk Street.

An Anchorage grand jury indicted Alto on Friday on charges of first- and second-degree murder, attempted murder, first-degree assault, two counts of third-degree assault and misconduct involving a weapon.

Police have said he suffered life-threatening injuries and was hospitalized following the encounter with officers last month. Alto was in custody at the Anchorage Correctional Complex on Tuesday.

Investigators believe Washington and Alto knew each other, but details about how they were acquainted or what may have motivated the shooting were still under investigation, police spokeswoman Amanda Brimanis said in an email Tuesday.

Last month, after the camp shooting, investigators received information that Alto “was not going to get arrested without having a shootout with officers,” Chief Sean Case said during a media briefing in August.

On Aug. 23, officers were called to Post Road because a woman reported two people were being chased by someone with a gun, police said. The man chasing them was later identified as Alto. It’s not clear if or how he knew them or why he was chasing them.

When officers arrived, they confronted Alto and eventually he fired at police multiple times, striking an occupied civilian vehicle, Case said last month. Officer Ryan Kelley fired at Alto and wounded him, police said.

Alto was the seventh person to be shot by Anchorage police since mid-May. Four people have died and Alto and two others were wounded in separate encounters.

Police have not publicly identified Alto as the person involved in the police shooting. The state Office of Special Prosecutions last week identified him as one of several people involved in shootings involving officers that remain under review.

The office reviews police shootings to determine whether officers will face criminal charges for using deadly force. The Alaska Department of Law had not finished the review into the shooting involving Alto by Tuesday, spokeswoman Patty Sullivan said.