Fatal shooting of Steven Kissack by police and community’s response shows Juneau’s failures and heart, mourners say

For people who knew longtime homeless resident Steven Kissack, his death in a police confrontation Monday represents both the great failings and great heart of Juneau as a community.

The circumstances that led to him being shot multiple times while wielding a knife are hotly disputed, but plenty of people agreed Tuesday his death was a public failure bigger than that moment due to his struggling through life on the streets for many years. Kissack, 35, was killed in front of a sheltered storefront that was one of several places where he usually spent days and nights in the company of his malamute companion Juno.

At the same time, many local residents also took hope in the tributes to Kissack the day after his death, including memorials on the street where he was shot and a vigil at Resurrection Lutheran Church attended by about 100 people ranging from fellow members of Juneau’s unhoused community to city leaders.

Flowers, notes, rucksacks, food, stuffed malamutes and dog biscuits were plentiful at two memorial sites on Front Street by early Tuesday evening. One was at the spot where Kissack was shot a short distance from a building entrance, the other in the covered doorway of another building that was one of his frequent sleeping spots.

“It’s hard to ask for help, but he didn’t get the help that he needed and I feel like collectively as a society all of this city failed him,” Seth Santana, a friend of Kissack’s, said during the vigil. “He was always watching everyone’s back. Even people that he didn’t enjoy he would give them food, given them blankets, he was a good dude.”

“I tried my best to help him, but…how many people can you help?” he added, struggling to finish his comments as he broke down in tears.

Molly Briggs said she was at work in an office a short distance away when she heard the gunshots, looked outside her window and saw Juno, and feared the worst. She said she’s lived in Juneau for the same number of years as Kissack and did what she could to help him when possible.

“I remember this winter where it was really cold and I was really happy to see so many people stopping by to help him,” she told attendees at the vigil. “I think about him moving here and everything that transpired afterwards, and it’s not so cut and dry right? It’s comfortable for us to think that people without houses make choices that got them there. It’s more of a system failing. I think the system really failed yesterday.”

Yet another stuffed malamute resembling Juno was on a small table in front of a couch where many of those speaking at the vigil sat while sharing their memories, nearly all of which included mentions of the dog.

“Myself and my colleagues when we got food or a sandwich or something, and we took it out there at some point, it was always interesting because anytime we did something like that and engaged Steven the first bite always seemed to go to Juno,” said Kirby Day, a local tourism industry leader for the past four decades who was named Citizen of the Year by the Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce in 2018.

“If we as a society did fail him then we should make sure we don’t fail others somehow,” Day said. “There has got to be a way.”

In addition to the expressions of sorrow and regret were fonder memories of Kissack.

“Probably the most fun that we ever had was when Juno had puppies and he was such a proud papa,” said Karen Lawfer, congregation president of the church, which for two winters hosted a warming shelter where Kissack and Juno regularly slept. “So please, for Steve’s sake, please see everybody on the same level. We’re all the same, we really are. And when there are times to smile and be very happy like when you’re a new dad like Steve was — that was the most fulfilling time of his life, I truly believe that, because he got to be a dad.”

Many at the memorials and vigil expressed anger at the police officers who shot Kissack, but some people also acknowledged they don’t know all the circumstances and as such are trying to resist the temptation to assign blame. Karen Perkins, who as the church’s pastor presided over the vigil, said she was lighting a candle for the officers at the scene as well as for Kissack.

”I know that whenever there’s a police-involved shooting — and especially in police-involved shooting that ends in a death — it’s traumatizing for the officers as well,” she said. “Not just the ones who are who are there, but the ones who are witnesses, the ones who work with them, and so I just need to express concern and compassion for those people as well.”

An updated official statement about the incident was released by Juneau Police Chief Derek Bos at about the same time the vigil — which was being livestreamed — neared its end. A Juneau Police Department spokesperson said the timing was coincidental due to a busy day of activity delaying the release until evening.

Bos, in the statement, said an officer approached Kissack because he was suspected in an assault Sunday, and “during the initial contact Kissack held a knife and refused to follow requests and orders from the officer to put the knife down.”

The officer requested additional assistance and negotiations continued with Kissack for more than 10 minutes before police fired non-lethal projectiles in an attempt to subdue him, but instead he “charged at the officers while brandishing the weapon,” according to Bos. Multiple officers fired their weapons at him and, after lifesaving efforts were made at the scene by emergency officials, he was pronounced dead at Bartlett Regional Hospital.

Bos said Kissack’s “beloved dog” is being cared for by Juneau Animal Rescue and the officers involved in the incident are on administrative leave during review by the Alaska Bureau of Investigation.

“This is a regretful event for everyone involved,” Bos said. “We recognize that friends throughout our community, and family far away, will be mourning the loss of Kissack in the days to come. Thank you to all the members of our community who have come together to support the myriad of individuals affected by this incident.”

Church staff spent part of Tuesday talking to Kissack’s family and others outside Alaska who last saw him a couple of decades ago, Lawfer said. She said they described him as constantly busy with activities such as building things and painting during his younger years — which he told the Empire in an interview last Christmas Eve were jobs he held when he first moved to Juneau about a decade ago.

Perkins, during the vigil, read a brief message on behalf of Kissack’s family written by his brother Jason, who lives in Florida where Steven grew up.

“Thank you and if you attend the vigil please tell everyone we are so grateful for the love you are showing for our brother,” the brother wrote.

Thousands of cruise ship and other visitors saw the police tape sealing off the street Monday after Kissack was shot and thousands more walked by the memorials in that area on Tuesday. Patricia Allen, keeping an eye on the memorial where Kissack died, said she was asked by “almost everybody that’s walked by” about what happened.

Two cruise ship employees walking past the memorial, Dauche Poceva and Grahame Jansen, said they frequently saw Kissack during port stops every week or so this season. They said they don’t see many homeless people during their few hours in port compared to some other towns the ship stops at, but Kissack made a distinct impression.

“He was quite remarkable because he was carrying all these things with him and he always had a dog with him,” Poceva said. “He always seemed peaceful. I never had an issue.”

Kissack had an extensive criminal history, including an assault case involving a police officer in 2021, and friends acknowledged he used drugs and had periods of mental struggles. However, several people at the vigil spoke of overcoming their struggles with addiction, mental illness and other problems that resulted in being homeless, saying recovery is possible even in seemingly impossible situations with the right help.

“The fact I’m here is a miracle,” said Kimberly Sumner, coordinator for the Traumatic and Acquired Brain Injury Program at Southeast Alaska Independent Living. She said she was a homeless victim of domestic violence and “I got here because we came together as a society in Juneau. We came together as a family and if I can be pulled up, and David [an attendee sitting near her] can be pulled up, we can pull each other up.”

“It’s time to start making louder noises because it’s when one of us hurts or one of us struggles we all do, and so we need to change the narrative…because until everyone is out and until everyone has food, and until everyone has safety, and the common decency and the rights of a human person, we’re just going to see this keep repeating over and over again.”

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.