Anchorage Police Chief Chris Tolley, surrounded by Alaska law enforcement officers, speaks at a news conference in Anchorage on Tuesday. Tolley said the gun used in the shooting of an officer over the weekend has been linked to five killings in Alaska's biggest city this year.

Anchorage Police Chief Chris Tolley, surrounded by Alaska law enforcement officers, speaks at a news conference in Anchorage on Tuesday. Tolley said the gun used in the shooting of an officer over the weekend has been linked to five killings in Alaska's biggest city this year.

Anchorage police tie gun used to shoot officer to five killings

ANCHORAGE — The handgun used to wound an Anchorage police officer last weekend has been linked to five previously unsolved homicides this year in Alaska’s largest city, police said Tuesday.

Lt. John McKinnon, head of the city police’s homicide division, said the Colt Python .357 revolver was linked through ballistics to two double homicides and one other killing.

“It is just heartbreaking,” Anchorage Police Chief Chris Tolley told reporters.

The gun was used by James Dale Ritchie, 40, early Saturday morning to ambush police officer Arn Salao, who was responding to a report that a man hadn’t paid a cab fare.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Even after he was shot repeatedly, Salao returned fire as he jumped out of his police cruiser. Sgt. Marc Patzke arrived at the same time and also shot at the suspect, Tolley said. Ritchie was killed in the exchange.

McKinnon said the guns had been used in the July 3 shootings deaths of Jason Netter and Brianna Foisy, whose bodies were found on a trail near downtown Anchorage; in the July 29 death of Treyveonkindell Thompson, who was found on an isolated street, and the Aug. 28 deaths of Bryant De Husson and Kevin Turner, who were both shot in the Valley of the Moon Park near downtown Anchorage.

Detectives continue to look into Ritchie’s past, and McKinnon asked the public to provide any information they could about him.

“He hadn’t been on our radar for a while in Anchorage, so that’s part of what they’re trying to determine is, where he’s been, who he’d lived with, what other contacts he had,” said Anchorage District Attorney Clint Campion. “He hasn’t had any real police contact in the last decade in Alaska.”

Campion said the five homicide cases remain open because the link to the gun provides investigative leads that need to be pursued. He said Anchorage police would be working with various agencies in the state in the investigation.

The gun was not registered to Ritchie, police spokeswoman Jennifer Castro said.

“What I’d be looking at is to see what the evidence is and which way that points us,” Campion said. “I think the firearm is a significant lead in that direction, and there’s other investigation that need to be done.”

Tolley said actions of Salao and Patzke in returning fire at Ritchie were heroic and “made sure that this individual will not hurt any one of you or any one of the citizens of Anchorage. I’m so very, very proud of them.”

Salao was hit at least four times in the lower part of his body, with bullets fracturing bones, ripping apart muscles and going through the intestine and lodging in his liver, Tolley said.

He underwent seven hours of surgery on Saturday. Tolley said the officer is recuperating at an Anchorage hospital, and has been moved out of the intensive care unit.

“The officer is a fighter,” Tolley said, adding Salao is determined to live.

Salao has been a patrol officer since joining the force in October 2011. Patzke has been with the force since November 2007.

• Associated Press reporter Becky Bohrer contributed to this report.

More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast through the week of March 16

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

A plane flies over the town after taking off from the dirt runway on Sept. 14, 2019, in Kivalina. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Possible Postal Service changes present challenge to Alaska Bypass Mail

Rural communities depend on service for food shipments.

The exterior of the Governor’s House on Wednesday, with Nov. 20, 2024, with decorations in place for the holiday season. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire file photo)
Turning Governor’s House into a short-term rental proposed by Alaska lawmaker

Republican House member says intent is fiscal responsibility, not a slight of often-absent GOP governor.

SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium’s Vintage Park Campus on its opening day of Dec. 19, 2023. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
SEARHC starts up new online portal for patients

Starting later this month, SEARHC patients will be able to schedule appointments,… Continue reading

Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom (R-Alaska) chats with U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) before her annual address to the Alaska State Legislature on March 18, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Murkowski embraces many of Trump’s goals, but questions his methods

Senator addresses flood concerns, federal firings, Medicaid worries in annual speech to Legislature.

This rendering depicts Huna Totem Corp.’s proposed new downtown development project. (City and Borough of Juneau)
Aak’w Landing private cruise ship dock advances to full Assembly for possible April vote

Modifications to proposed agreement include ship size limit, Coast Guard’s OK due to icebreaker.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Sunday, March 16, 2025

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

The Juneau Social Security Administration field office is seen in the Hurff A. Saunders Federal Building on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Update: Social Security to cut phone support, forces Alaskans online or to Juneau, Anchorage or Fairbanks

New policy announced Tuesday takes effect March 31; 60,000 rural Alaskans lack broadband.

Rep. Jeremy Bynum, R-Ketchikan, speaks Feb. 21, 2025, on the floor of the Alaska House of Representatives. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska legislators ask feds to reinstate program that sent money to rural schools

The Alaska House of Representatives is asking Congress to fix a problem… Continue reading

Most Read