23-year-old faces charges in wounding of officer and 2 others before East Anchorage standoff

A 23-year-old man is facing numerous charges tied to a series of shootings in East Anchorage on Monday that wounded three people, including a police officer, and led to a lengthy standoff.

The Anchorage Police Department in an update Tuesday said Jalen J. Baker is accused of shooting two strangers during a parking lot confrontation and then wounding an officer during a subsequent standoff that disrupted school activities and closed a section of Muldoon Road for hours.

Officers initially responded to Creekside Park just before 11:30 a.m. Monday for reports of a shooting and found a man and woman who each had at least one gunshot wound to the upper body, Chief Sean Case told reporters at a media briefing Monday evening. Both were both brought to a hospital with wounds the chief described as not life-threatening.

It isn’t clear what motivated the shooting, he said. Police on Tuesday described it as “an isolated incident.”

Citizens helped police locate the suspect, later identified as Baker, at Rangeview Mobile Home Park on Muldoon, Case said. Baker shot the officer in the leg but the officer was taken to a hospital and is expected to recover, he said.

Baker then barricaded himself inside a mobile home and shot at officers, the chief said.

A standoff with police lasted several hours and drew a heavy law enforcement presence to the area Monday afternoon. Dozens of officers were staged around and inside the mobile home park. Alaska State Troopers and police SWAT officers responded, as well as a K-9 officer and a troopers helicopter. Anchorage firefighters and medics were positioned nearby.

Officers fired less-lethal projectiles but did not use lethal force during the standoff, Case said.

Muldoon Road was closed for several blocks surrounding the scene on Monday and the Anchorage School District modified bus routes and pickup routines for some students at Bartlett High School, Begich Middle School, and Muldoon and Creekside Park elementary schools.

Baker was taken into custody around 5:30 p.m., police said.

In Tuesday’s update, they said he was facing three counts of first-degree assault and one count each of third-degree assault, second- and third-degree misconduct involving a weapon and reckless endangerment.

Baker was originally scheduled to appear in court Tuesday afternoon, but the hearing was continued until Wednesday. He was in custody Tuesday morning at the Anchorage Correctional Complex.

[Correction: The headline on this story has been updated to remove information that incorrectly indicated police had brought charges against the defendant.]