The Alaska Department of Public Safety on Monday named three law enforcement officers it says fired weapons during a deadly Kasilof shooting last week.
The department identified the officers as Ethan Norwood, Jonathan Lindblom and Charles Lee. All are members of the troopers’ Southern Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT, team. Norwood is a trooper sergeant who’s spent 12 years with the agency, Lindblom has been a trooper for two years and Lee is a four-year veteran of the Homer Police Department.
In total, the three officers fired 10 shots at 32-year-old Kasilof resident Mason Toloff. The officers were placed on paid administrative leave for a minimum of three days. That’s policy for any Department of Public Safety law enforcement officers who use lethal force.
Trooper spokesperson Austin McDaniel said Tuesday via email that the agency’s Southern SWAT Team consists of 14 law enforcement officers – mostly state troopers and wildlife troopers. Other members include officers with the Kenai and Homer police departments, as well as Alaska State Park rangers.
Troopers responded to the scene around 10:20 p.m. last Thursday after a caller reported a man yelling and shooting a gun near Crooked Creek Road. Troopers say Toloff threatened to shoot them, so they activated the Southern SWAT Team. During a standoff that lasted roughly four hours, Toloff shot a trooper in the leg. About an hour after that, troopers shot and killed Toloff.
The injured trooper was treated at a Kenai Peninsula hospital and discharged Friday to recover at home.
