Alaska State Troopers are investigating the shooting death of a Unalakleet man after investigators say he got in to a “physical altercation” with another man Sunday night.
In an online dispatch, Troopers wrote they received a call shortly after 11:05 p.m. Sunday for “an incident where one person was deceased and another person had been injured.” The report went first to the Unalakleet Police Department and then to Troopers in Unalakleet, AST spokesperson Megan Peters said in an email response Tuesday.
Troopers arrived at the home where the incident was reported and found 31-year-old Tauna Showalter, of Unalakleet, dead from what investigators said was an apparent gunshot wound.
Troopers wrote in the online dispatch that the “investigation reveals that Showalter and [another] adult male had a physical altercation which led up to Showalter’s death.” No additional details were given as of Tuesday.
That second man was transported to the Unalakleet community clinic for “non-life threatening injuries” and was later medevaced to Anchorage for further treatment. The second man’s name is not being given, according to AST’s Peters, because “the other man involved … is not charged with anything and we do not provide potential suspect information.”
Peters said that Troopers “cannot provide more details about [the] investigation as it is an ongoing,” adding that “Troopers are still conducting follow up interviews.”
The Unalakleet Police Department was on the scene to assist with “scene security” while Troopers from the Nome Post were also on hand to assist in the investigation, Peters wrote.
Showalter’s next of kin has been notified. His body will be taken to Anchorage for an autopsy at the State Medical Examiner’s office.
The investigation into the cause and circumstances leading up to Showalter’s death, Troopers said, remains ongoing.
