FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU/KTVF) — State troopers who fatally shot and killed a 24-year-old Fairbanks man on New Year’s Day will face no criminal charges, Alaska prosecutors announced, after an independent review determined they were legally justified in their use of deadly force.

Content Warning: This article contains video and information that some readers might find disturbing.

Newly-released redacted Alaska Department of Public Safety incident records show troopers were called at about 11:28 a.m. Jan. 1 to a home on Gradelle Avenue after a report of a domestic disturbance involving Rexford. Rexford had been released that morning from Fairbanks Memorial Hospital’s behavioral health unit, where he had been admitted since Christmas Day.

According to the incident report, Rexford was sitting on a couch as troopers and family members talked with him about returning to the hospital for an involuntary mental health commitment.

The report says Rexford suddenly ran into the kitchen, grabbed large kitchen knives and began making repeated stabbing motions at a trooper, ultimately forcing him to the ground.

The report also says the trooper sustained a small knife wound to his hand during the struggle, which was confirmed by body-worn camera footage.

Two troopers fired their service weapons during the struggle, the report says. Rexford was struck and pronounced dead at the scene. Rexford’s brother Adam — identified by the family at a January vigil — was also struck by gunfire during the shooting, the incident report says. He was transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he was treated for a gunshot wound to the head, according to the incident report.

Alaska State Troopers have identified the troopers who fired as Trooper John Faul and Trooper Wyatt Miller. According to AST, both troopers had about five and a half months of service at the time of the shooting. The incident report says Faul also had more than three years of prior law enforcement experience as a patrol deputy with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.

The Alaska Bureau of Investigation investigated the shooting, and the findings were independently reviewed by the Office of Special Prosecutions, which has declined to file criminal charges against the troopers.

Alaska’s News Source has reviewed body-worn camera footage and 911 audio released as part of the investigation.

Incident report details

The report says the first 911 call came from Rexford’s brother, who told dispatch his brother was having medical issues and was breaking items in the home and asked that two troopers respond.

The report says a second call came from Rexford’s father, who told dispatch his son was destroying property and had just been released from the hospital’s fourth floor. The father told dispatch no one had been hurt but that Rexford might need to be restrained, according to the report.

The report says troopers were talking with Rexford about a Title 47 — an involuntary mental health commitment — to return him to the hospital. During that conversation, Rexford said multiple times that he wanted to die, according to the report.

Investigators wrote that from the time Rexford stood up and rushed to the kitchen until the final shots were fired was about eight seconds, based on their review of body-worn camera video.

Vigil held for Rexford

The decision comes nearly three months after family and friends gathered Jan. 26 at Golden Heart Plaza in downtown Fairbanks for a candlelight vigil to remember Rexford.

Rexford’s sister, Linda Rexford, read a statement from their parents.

“He liked to go biking, walking and fishing with his family. We were very proud of him buying his first brand new car this past summer by himself,” she said. “He was a kind, thoughtful, caring person who wanted to become a registered nurse. He was excited about being able to do the things he wanted to do and looked forward to working in the medical field in the future.”

Linda Rexford said her brother was born Nov. 7, 2001, in Fairbanks. She said he attended University Park Elementary School, Ryan Middle School and West Valley High School, and became a certified nursing assistant through the University of Alaska Community and Technical College.

Rexford’s uncle, Robert Kious, said at the vigil he wished troopers had used tasers.

What’s next

DPS has said an administrative process can follow officer-involved shootings to review tactics, training and whether any policy violations occurred. AST has confirmed the next steps will be an administrative review to look at tactics, training and whether policies were followed.

The Alaska Department of Law said it was in the process of being released the Office of Special Prosecutions’ official review on Friday.

The Rexford family’s supporters are now calling for a rally at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 11 at Geist and University in Fairbanks in support of William and Adam Rexford.

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I know I’m not the only Alaskan who is sick and tired of snow. We’ve had a long and unusually cold winter, and I want my lawn back. Probably, you do too, even if you don’t want to admit it. After nine months, it is not that hard to see the snow finally melt away.

As always, I can’t help but marvel how we lose most of our memories of last year’s arduous lawn chores, maybe the only good outcome of a long winter. Otherwise we might not have lawns at all.

Anyway, right now we are in the first part of the Alaska growing season. The seed racks are out and calling. No, they are screaming to us: Buy seeds! Be careful. It is easy to get carried away.

The fact of the matter is that many of us have already started seeds and many more will certainly be doing so this month. (You know the rule: You are not a real gardener unless you start at least one thing from seed by yourself.)

As I write this, I know the geese will be back late this week. It’s just like the swallows returning to Capistrano, and we all should be waiting and celebrating as a community. The first advance teams always arrive, snow or no, the first week of April. By mid-month, there are thousands of them, noisily and eagerly searching for food to sustain themselves.

Some stop here, but many continue migrating even farther north. And they are joined by trumpeter swans, snow geese and so many more birds. What a migratory sensation! Someone told me there are over 60,000 birds flying through Anchorage. Living on the bluff, I can believe it.

Anyhow, we threw down lots of wildflower seeds last fall, and I am hoping that they will germinate in a few weeks when this darn snow cover finally melts off.

The lawn beautification process that is characteristic of a northern population starved for flowers by a too-long winter will get underway. Ugh, and to continue to confront the dandelion war we have lost and no longer should fight. They are here and not going away. (What we should be doing is trying to develop different-colored ones.)

It is after April 1, a magical time for Alaska’s gardeners. It means there is sufficient natural light now, so you don’t have to have a set of grow lights under which to germinate your seeds (but you should — last nag of the season on this one). You can even grow tomatoes from seeds by the windowsill using natural light.

Remember, compost is the rule here, and if not available then organic potting soil should be used. Anything your plant might need is in organic soil or compost with the exception of mycorrhizal fungi and you can add that.

Remember, we are aiming to completely eliminate plastic materials from gardening. No more plastic pots! You could buy one of those gadgets to make paper ones, assuming you can find a source of newspaper with which to do so. I suppose you could substitute cardboard or paper bags if you can’t.

So, it’s been a long, long winter and one that was as cold as a bucket of penguin poop, as the saying goes. Who isn’t thrilled by the extended daylight? Even the most diehard skier can look forward to the end of the snow season. (The beginning of the garden season may just be why.)

All I can say is yippee! Melt, darn snow! Melt. It is gardening season now. We should all be happy campers.

Jeff’s Alaska Garden Calendar:

Alaska Pioneer Fruit Growers Association: Annual fruit tree grafting workshop at Begich Middle School, Sunday, April 19, 2-4 p.m. Rootstock for sale, free scion wood and instruction available. This is a great event and could be the start of a great hobby

Lilies: If you have been growing yours indoors, take them outdoors and keep there there until planted. Use a nice, wind-protected area in the shade.

Flowers to start from seed: Brachycomes, dianthus, stock, lockspar, asters, nicotiana, cleome, iceplant, zinnia and salpiglossis, schizanthus, nigella, phlox, portulaca, nemesia, marigold and nasturtiums.

Vegetables: Broccoli, kale, cabbage and cauliflower.

Gladioli: What are you waiting for?

Nurseries: Don’t wait. You should be buying plants and supplies. They can be hardened off when the birch tree leaves are the size of a squirrel’s ear.

Have an announcement? Send me announcements at least two weeks in advance of the event.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – In June, his life of adventure and innovation will be immortalized in the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame. But on Tuesday, it’s the memories he formed with countless others that earned its moment in the spotlight.

Dick Griffith, a man known for his epic nature exhibitions and an early user of the packraft, was honored at the Anchorage Museum earlier this week. It was a time for friends and family to reminisce about the near-century long outdoorsman.

“It was really moving for me,” former Alaska Mountain and Wilderness Classic runner and longtime friend of Griffith, Roman Dial, said. “I tried just to give a straight description of his life, like a bare bones, and it was hard not to weep a little bit because he meant a lot to me.”

Dial met Griffith in 1982, just before the first ever running of the classic. That interaction led to many lessons.

“I met him when I was at an influential age and he kind of changed my whole perspective about how to travel through the wilderness,” Dial said.

Dial was one of many Griffith appeared to impact in his 98 years on planet Earth. During the two-hour ceremony, which Dial led in organizing, several different individuals took the time to speak about him. Those stories ranged from surviving multiple bear encounters in the Alaska bush to simple meetups at the Eagle River Nature Center, of which Griffith was a big supporter.

Years later, those same people will soon see Griffith’s legacy remembered forever. Speaking with AK Sports HOF Executive Director Harlow Robinson in December, he said the legacy Griffith leaves behind was immense.

‘He’s truly a legend in Alaska and beyond both for his arctic exploration and being the first person to trek the arctic coast of North America and he’s got an amazing history pre-Alaska of white water rafter and river exploration,“ he said. ”He lived to be 98 years old and never slowed down until the end of his life.”

His accomplishments include traversing over 10,000 miles by foot and raft throughout his life. His longest trek, a 4,000-mile journey from Unalakleet to Hudson Bay in Canada, took nearly 12 years and almost a dozen annual trips.

“He imagined things that he would do and then he went and did them,” Dial said. “He didn’t look to see what other people did.”

Now just months out from that and many accomplishments being put in the public eye, Dial said the takeaways from Griffith’s experiences are universal.

“I hope that they take away not just the keep moving idea, but like to build a community and stay in touch with your community and to include people in what you do. But on the other hand, feed your own soul in whatever way it takes. I think he was really good at that,” Dial said.

He was a man remembered for time on the trail and his compassion to those he kept dear.

“He was affectionate, like in his own way. he cared about you,” Dial said. ”I’m not a big believer in the afterlife, but if there is one, you know, he’s up there with a big grin on his face, loving every minute of it.”

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