Aleknagik 911 calls rerouted to troopers May 20th 11:58 am |
Isabelle Ross, KDLG News
Aleknagik is a small community 20 miles up the road from Bristol Bay s western hub of Dillingham. It has around 200 residents, but no local police.
So, for years, when someone in Aleknagik called 911, the person on the other end of the line couldn t offer direct help.
That was dangerous, said Kay Andrews, Aleknagik s city administrator. Five years ago, my daughter tried to call 911, and she was told to call another number, said Andrews. This was an emergency. She has no means to write another number and then hang up the phone and call another number.
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Aleknagik is a small community 20 miles up the road from Bristol Bay’s western hub of Dillingham. It has around 200 residents, but no local police.
So, for years, when someone in Aleknagik called 911, the person on the other end of the line couldn’t offer direct help.
That was dangerous, said Kay Andrews, Aleknagik’s city administrator.
“Five years ago, my daughter tried to call 911, and she was told to call another number,” said Andrews. “This was an emergency. She has no means to write another number and then hang up the phone and call another number.”
The problem was that 911 calls were routed to the Dillingham police, who don’t have jurisdiction in Aleknagik, because it’s outside of Dillingham’s city limits. The issue highlighted the patchwork and often inefficient emergency-call system in rural Alaska.
Dillingham Police Department, Friday, March 5, 2021.
Credit Izzy Ross/KDLG
Dillingham Police Department Chief Dan Pasquirello provided an update at Thursday’s City Council meeting on the February shooting incident.
In a staff report, Pasquirello says that he and officer Daniel Gonzalez-Fawcett responded to a ditched vehicle belong to Daniel Wahl. They attempted to make contact with Wahl using a PA system and cell phone. Wahl allegedly refused to respond and began firing with a handgun out of the windows of his vehicle.
Police then contacted state troopers for assistance and made a second attempt to speak with Wahl, before he began firing at law enforcement from his back window.
Credit KDLG News Department
Alaska Bureau Investigators arrested Dillingham resident Daniel Wahl, 32, Wednesday after he was released from a hospital. Wahl had an outstanding warrant for shooting at law enforcement two weeks ago.
On February 18, Dillingham police received reports of a ditched car on the side of a road, according to Alaska State Troopers. Dillingham dispatch made contact with Wahl who was operating the vehicle. He told dispatch that he had a rifle and ammunition. He tried to flee when police and state troopers arrived on scene, but couldn’t get the car out of the ditch.
Police and troopers exchanged gunfire with Wahl. Three troopers fired their guns during the incident: Sergeant Aaron Mobley, Adam Jackson, and Benjamin Turner. Mobley has worked with the troopers for 17 years, Jackson and Turner for two.