Man shot by Palmer police sentenced after changing plea

July 23, 2006

By MARY AMES/Frontiersman

PALMER - A Palmer taxidermist shot by police in September after he held police at bay with a gun to his head entered a no-contest plea and was sentenced Thursday.

Shawn McCrary, 43, pleaded to one consolidated charge of third-degree assault and one charge of second-degree criminal mischief in Palmer Superior Court. Judge Eric Smith sentenced McCrary to an agreed cap of 48 months in prison, with 25 months to serve, and placed McCrary on five years probation.

McCrary was indicted in October on five counts of third-degree assault - one count for each police officer involved in the standoff - and one count each of coercion, violating a domestic protection order, reckless endangerment and second-degree criminal trespass.

In an agreement made public Wednesday afternoon between James Fayette, assistant attorney general, and Lance Wells, McCrary's court-appointed attorney, McCrary could receive a maximum sentence of 48 months and from three to five years of probation.

McCrary admitted that he recklessly placed Palmer police officers James Gipson, Philip Krauss, Sgt. Lance Ketterling and Chief Russ Boatright, and Alaska State Trooper Bob Cox in fear of immediate physical injury with a Colt .45 semiautomatic handgun on Sept. 20.

Ketterling shot McCrary twice in the stomach when McCrary made a threatening move with the .45, according to a previous statement by Boatright.

The Anchorage Police Department investigated the shooting, but to date has not issued a statement on the shooting nor returned phone calls asking for an update. Fayette said out of court that it is normal procedure for police to not release the results of an investigation until a criminal case is resolved.

&#8220My comment would be that there is no issue,” he said. &#8220The shooting was justifiable under the statute. He went for his gun. They are allowed to use deadly force.”

Three Palmer police officers attended the sentencing, but none addressed the court.

Wells asked the court for a sentence of 23 to 30 months, with all but 18 months suspended. McCrary, who has been in custody since the shooting, had been a model prisoner while in jail, Wells said.

&#8220Mr. McCrary would like to get his life back on track and move out of the Valley,” Wells said. &#8220This was an unfortunate event with lessons to be learned on all sides.”

Fayette spoke little and relied instead on the brief he prepared for the court. One of the conditions Fayette requested the court impose on McCrary was no non-emergency contact with law enforcement officers, including Palmer police, troopers and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Fayette submitted an audio CD of McCrary's threatening and harassing phone calls to police.

Smith agreed and added Wasilla police to the list.

Because McCrary's blood tested positive for marijuana and &#8220psychotropic medications” immediately after the shooting, Smith ordered McCrary to undergo substance abuse and mental health evaluations and treatments.

&#8220This was a very scary incident, to put it mildly,” Smith said. &#8220Mr. McCrary did not handle things appropriately in any way, shape or form.”

Smith referred to comments written by the judge who sentenced McCrary for a 1991 24-hour standoff with troopers off Fairview Loop, such as McCrary's repeated determination that he was &#8220going to get my way.”

In a lot of ways, this event was scarier than the 1991 standoff, Smith said.

&#8220He had a gun to his head,” he said. &#8220Nobody should be put in the position of those law enforcement officers. Domestic violence is so serious, the people who serve protective orders need to be treated with respect.”

McCrary and his wife had lived together in a house across the street from Valley Hospital until Rebecca McCrary moved out and filed a protective order, which was granted by the courts on Sept. 15. Because McCrary was reported to be at the house where his wife sought refuge, Palmer District Court issued an arrest warrant for McCrary, authorizing police to take him by force, and a search warrant for his house.

Previously, McCrary had threatened to kill himself at the elementary school where his wife worked, and when police learned he kept his children out of school on Sept. 20, they &#8220considered this to be an ominous fact,” according to a letter filed by Fayette to Alaska Psychiatric Institute in January.

When police officers arrived to serve the warrants, they found McCrary armed, the front door blocked and the two children in the house, the letter said. Boatright entered the house first, followed by the other officers. The police removed the children, but McCrary refused to put his Colt down. The standoff lasted about 10 to 15 minutes. When the situation seemed to defuse, Boatright holstered his weapon, but McCrary drew his gun when he saw other police officers outside.

Ketterling fired his weapon three times, hitting McCrary twice in the abdomen and missing his head by inches with the third shot, the letter said. When Boatright took McCrary's .45, the gun was loaded, a live round was in the chamber, and the safety was in the &#8220fire” position, the letter said.

McCrary, who had been highly vocal at previous court appearances, including representation hearings to change lawyers several times, apologized Thursday to the judge.

&#8220Your honor, I appreciate your patience through the first part of this,” McCrary said. &#8220I interrupted a lot. I wish things had turned out differently than they have.”

The change in McCrary was a credit to Wells' client-handling skills, Fayette said later.

&#8220I think he has the trust of his client, and that's a credit to his practice.”

Contact Mary Ames at 352-2284 or mary.ames@frontiersman.com.