Anchorage officers justified in the fatal shooting of Utuva Alaelua who reached for a gun

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Anchorage, AK - State prosecutors say an Anchorage police officer was justified in fatally shooting a man in the Mountain View neighborhood in May.

On May 12, Anchorage police officer Carter Mayes stopped 41-year-old Utuva Alaelua while he was driving for a headlight issue. Police say Mayes had previously been monitoring a nearby vehicle that was associated with a felony warrant when he left to follow Alealua.

According to a state review, after Mayes stopped the car, he asked Alealua if he was armed. He replied no. As Mayes asked Alaelua to hand over his keys and step out of the vehicle, another officer shined a flashlight in the car, and noticed a firearm between Alaelua’s legs, which Mayes told investigators he also saw.

As Mayes asked Alaelua to put his hands up and step out of the car, he told investigators that he saw Alaelua put his right arm down quickly toward the gun. Mayes shot Alaelua once, killing him.

Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case later said that Alaelua was not legally allowed to own a firearm and had a felony warrant for a stolen vehicle.

In a letter from the state Office of Special Prosecutions released Friday, state prosecutors found that Alaelua had lied about not having a firearm, did not comply with officers’ commands and made a sudden movement to a gun in his lap. They deemed that Mayes was legally justified in shooting Alaelua.