The Juneau Police Department has released the names of the officer who shot an unarmed 38-year-old man over the weekend.
Just before 4:30 a.m. Saturday, Sergeant Chris Gifford shot Juneau resident Jeremie Shaun Tinney after responding to a reported car crash in the 16500 block of Oceanview Drive, according to a JPD news release issued Monday.
The circumstances of the shooting are still unclear. JPD has not yet said what led Gifford to shoot Tinney.
Although JPD Chief Bryce Johnson said in a news conference Saturday he did not want to speculate how many shots were fired, Monday’s JPD release states that Gifford only fired his weapon once. Officer Darin Schultz was also at the scene Saturday morning.
After the shooting, Tinney was transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he was treated for “non-life threatening injuries,” JPD’s press release states. A Washington law enforcement agency — not the JPD — arrested Tinney on an outstanding warrant after he was discharged from the hospital on Sunday.
The charges for Tinney’s Washington warrant were assault on a child in the third degree, assault in the fourth degree, harassment, and probation violation, according to JPD. JPD did not name what agency arrested Tinney.
The police department opened Oceanview Drive early Sunday morning. The Alaska State Trooper Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting.
Johnson confirmed on Saturday at the news conference that Tinney was unarmed.
“We’re unaware of any weapons at the scene,” Johnson said.
Gifford has worked with JPD for 16 years. Shultz, who was with Gifford at the time of the shooting, has been with the force for 19 years.
