Alaska

Troopers release dash cam video of 2023 officer-involved shooting in Tok, say lethal shot was ‘allowed’ under Alaska law

Published

2 years ago

July 27, 2024

Troopers release dash cam video of 2023 officer-involved shooting in Tok, say lethal shot was ‘allowed’ under Alaska law

TOK, Alaska (KTUU) – Alaska State Troopers released dash cam video and 911 audio Friday from an officer-involved shooting in Tok in October 2023 and said that the trooper who fatally shot a Northway man has been cleared of wrongdoing.

Viewer warning: The video in this story may be disturbing for some readers. Watch at your own risk.

The trooper involved was not wearing a body camera, according to the Department of Public Safety.

Phone records show that at 2:35 a.m. on Oct. 30, 2023, troopers received a call that 21-year-old Timothy Thomas of Northway was attempting to break into occupied motel rooms and making threats at the Three Bears Motel in Tok.

The caller relayed information to the Department of Public Safety:

Caller: “We were sleeping and we heard banging on the door.”

Dispatcher: “Oh he heard through somebody else that you guys were there, so he just showed up?”

Caller: “Yup and that’s a bottle of alcohol and blacked out.”

Dispatcher: “Okay.”

Caller: “He’s in the gray sweater.”

Dispatcher: “Okay, is he threatening anything?”

Caller: “To break down the door.”

Troopers say the same caller called dispatch four times as Thomas tried to break the window and get into other motel rooms.

Trooper Timothy Rosario arrived just after 3 a.m. and saw Thomas was carrying an AK-47 style rifle outside the motel.

Officials say the dash cam video has no audio due to the in-car video recording being activated after the shooting, and Rosario was unable to activate the video system in time.

Rosario gave Thomas multiple commands to stop, but he refused stating, “I’d rather not.”

Troopers say Thomas appeared to be approaching a “position of cover,” which they say would have put the life of the trooper and occupants in the motel at risk.

Rosario then shot Thomas three times and was declared dead at the scene.

The Office of Special Prosecutions reviewed the case, stating they would not be pressing charges against Officer Rosario, finding that use of force was lawful.

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Alaska

ICE: Alaska state attorney arrested by immigration officials, held in Tacoma detention center

Published

5 hours ago

July 16, 2026

Press Room

ICE: Alaska state attorney arrested by immigration officials, held in Tacoma detention center

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Shucheng “Charlie” Yang, 32, a Chinese national and attorney with the Alaska Department of Law, on July 10 in Anchorage, according to an ICE spokesperson.

ICE said Yang violated the terms of his admission and is a “deportable alien.”

He is currently being held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, pending immigration proceedings.

Yang pled no contest to a speeding ticket he was cited for on May 22. There are no other charges against him listed in the Alaska court system.

Yang is the most recent person in Alaska to be taken into ICE custody at the Tacoma processing center; a Mexican woman living in Soldotna was deported along with her three children in February.

His arrest also comes days after a Colombian man was shot and killed by a federal immigration officer earlier this week in Maine, fueling a new wave of protests against perceived ICE brutality.

State outlines hiring process

The Alaska Department of Administration responded to general questions about verifying employment eligibility for all full-time hires and said the state requires applicants to self-disclose their employment eligibility during the application process.

“The State of Alaska hires individuals who have the legal right to work in the United States,” Policy Advisor Kate Sheehan said. “This employment eligibility is confirmed through the federally mandated I-9 verification process.”

Yang is listed as Department of Law civil attorney on the State of Alaska employee directory.

Agencies decline to comment on Yang

Both the Alaska Department of Law and the Office of Gov. Mike Dunleavy declined to address Yang’s employment status or arrest.

“As a practice, the Department of Law does not provide comments on personnel issues,” Information Officer Sam Curtis said.

“We do not comment on personnel issues,” Deputy Press Secretary Grant Robinson said.

Alaska’s News Source is reaching out to Yang through multiple channels while he remains detained in Tacoma.

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Alaska

Alaska university gets funding for critical minerals center

Published

17 hours ago

July 15, 2026

Press Room

Alaska university gets funding for critical minerals center

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – The National Science Foundation has selected the University of Alaska Fairbanks to be the site of a new critical minerals research program, making it one of 12 new technology innovation centers across the nation that received federal funding, according to Yereth Rosen with the Alaska Beacon.

The new Critical Minerals Accelerator Engine in Alaska will receive $15 million in funding for two years and up to $160 million over 10 years, the university said on Tuesday.

The organization will be located at and led by UAF’s Geophysical Institute and will work with more than 40 partners, said Steve Masterman, the university faculty member who helped lead the application for the award. Partners include private companies, Native corporations, nonprofits, other universities and other entities, said Masterman, who formerly served as Alaska’s state geologist.

UAF already conducts scientific research into minerals considered critical to the nation’s economy through its Critical Minerals Collaborative. That program is more scientific and academic-focused, said Masterman, who is its deputy director.

In contrast, the Critical Minerals Accelerator Engine will be focused on putting research to use, determining ways to commercialize resources, addressing supply needs, workforce development and other issues important to the critical minerals industry.

Though the scientific research already conducted at UAF will be helpful, the accelerator idea is industry-focused, Masterman said.

“This is quite different because it’s an economic development project,” he said.

Alaska is rich in resources considered critical minerals. The state has 56 of the 60 minerals classified by the U.S. Geological Survey as critical to the nation’s economy, UAF said in its statement.

In addition to the Alaska award, the NSF on Tuesday announced its awards for other innovation engines in different parts of the nation. The sites have different primary purposes, such as disaster prevention and mitigation, robotics development and development of advanced information technologies.

The Alaska innovation engine will be led by Lee Ann Munk, a faculty member at the Geophysical Institute and a geosciences professor at UAF’s College of Natural Science and Mathematics. Munk is currently director of the Critical Minerals Collaborative at UAF.

“Our NSF Engine is built on the simple but ambitious idea that Alaska can lead the nation not only with the abundance of its critical mineral resources, but also in how we innovate, develop and deploy the technologies needed to produce them responsibly,” Munk said in a statement released by the university.

“By bringing together researchers, Alaska Native organizations, industry, workforce partners, state and federal agencies, national laboratories and communities, we are creating an engine that accelerates discovery into action,” she said.

Editor’s note: This story was republished with permission from the Alaska Beacon.

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