Matthew Colton Stover, 21

Fairbanks, Alaska
June 19, 2017

Agencies: Fairbanks Police Department Alaska

Cause of death: Shooting


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Last updated: almost 6 years ago

Overview

Public information officer Yumi McCulloch said the suspect died at the scene in a non-residential area of south Fairbanks after the incident.

The initial call about the gunman, identified in a Monday night statement as 21-year-old Matthew Colton Stover, came in around 3 a.m. The caller told police a man wearing a mask was behind a Denny's restaurant with a long gun, McCulloch said.

The man had left before officers arrived, but police continued to search the area with Alaska State Troopers, McCulloch said.

While they were searching a second call came in from a Fairbanks Correctional employee who reported that there was a man with a long gun behind the prison, police said.

Law enforcement located the man in a vehicle and set up a perimeter at the city's snow dump next to the Big Dipper Ice Arena, a medical center and the prison, McCulloch said.

"The suspect rapidly exited the vehicle and advanced toward the officers while firing at them," McCulloch said. "The officers returned fire."

Later reports indicated that Stover came prepared to kill, not die — wearing a bullet-proof mask and dressed head to toe in modified body armor, Fairbanks Police Chief Eric Jewkes said.

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