Alleged shooter charged with attempted murder

WASILLA — An argument that led to gunfire landed one man in jail Thursday, according to a press release from Alaska State Troopers.

The shots were reported at 11:56 p.m. at a home on Twilight Drive, which is off of Knik-Goose Bay Road.

Troopers say Timothy Merton Willson, 33, of Chugiak, was arguing with another man.

“During this altercation, a rifle was fired, with the bullet entering into the passenger compartment of the vehicle occupied by the victim,” troopers report.

AST spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said that the rifle shot did not hit anyone in the vehicle.

They say the victim described Willson’s vehicle as a red Chevy Suburban with plastic where the back window should be. Palmer troopers alerted Anchorage police to be on the lookout.

Ipsen said troopers found the Suburban and pulled it over at Mile 20 of the Glenn Highway at 12:30 a.m., Friday.

Willson was arrested for attempted murder and jailed on $100,000 bail at Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility. Two passengers in the Suburban were detained briefly and then released.

Jail records Friday afternoon showed he was still at Mat-Su Pre-Trial. He will need to find a third party to watch over him before he can be released. He made his first court appearance Friday afternoon.

The Major Crimes Unit of the troopers’ Alaska Bureau of Investigation in Palmer is investigating. Ipsen said there wasn’t anything else she could release about the case.

“We’re still trying to firm up some of the details and some of the information that we have surrounding this case,” Ipsen said.

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.