Police say Hemlock shooting on Thursday is an “isolated incident”

Police responded to a 911 call yesterday afternoon from a shooting victim on the corner of Birch and Hemlock.

“About 2:49 pm, we received a 911 call from a male individual claiming to have been shot. He was at the corner of Birch and Hemlock. “Lieutenant Francis de la Fuente, public information officer for Kodiak Police Department said over the phone Friday morning. “We had to transport that individual to the hospital for the gunshot wound. Unfortunately, it’s still under investigation.”

De la Fuente confirmed the shooting occurred inside a house in the area. The victim was shot in the left arm, he said, and the wound was not fatal.

According to de la Fuente, police arrived at the scene along with Alaska State Troopers, Coast Guard investigators, and fire department personnel. Police detained four people for questioning yesterday but have since released them. No arrests have been made. Since it’s an open investigation, police won’t be releasing the names of the victim or the four individuals who were detained.

De la Fuente said right now they’re trying to corroborate everyone’s stories because so far they’re not quite lining up. “The next step is verifying the story of what really happened,” he said. “Just a lot of information yesterday that’s not corroborating [or] making sense. So we’re trying to piece together what the story was, what happened.”

Asked if drugs or alcohol could have been involved, he said, “That’s a possibility. But, again, until we get additional information, and that part is still under right under investigation.”

De la Fuente seemed convinced the shooting was a one-off, and that the community isn’t under threat. “This is a definitely an isolated incident, he said. We’re trying to get to the root cause of it. As much as we can. We don’t think any more issues are going to happen.”

This is a developing story. KMXT will have more information as it becomes available.