Two shooting incidents Tuesday fueled by fear, rage

MAT-SU — Valley residents fired shots at one another twice Tuesday. The first time, a woman scared burglars away from her property. The second time, a road rage incident just got out of hand.

The first shooting was reported at around 3:06 a.m., at a home on Limberlost Avenue in Meadow Lakes off of Vine Road. A 65-year-old woman called 911 before firing a single shot that halted a burglary in progress at her home.

Alaska State Trooper spokesperson Beth Ipsen said they don’t know whether the shot was fired in warning or if the woman aimed at the intruders. But either way, they fled the residence and left in the vehicle they drove there in.

Troopers say the woman told them someone forced open her kitchen door and entered her residence. By the time troopers arrived, the suspects had fled, Ipsen said.

Troopers initial investigation determined that a vehicle had pulled into the driveway, and when an attempt to hot-wire a four-wheeler failed, the thief or thieves broke into the residence.

The investigation is ongoing, Ipsen said.

“We’d welcome information,” she said.

The second incident came just hours later, at around 5:30 a.m., near Wasilla. Shots were fired, but no one was injured, in a road rage incident that began near Teeland Middle School on Seldon Road in Wasilla.

Alaska State Troopers say a report came in at 5:26 a.m., July 1, that a 52-year-old man and his passenger in a Ford Escort were fired at multiple times by two white men in a dark green convertible sports car.

Troopers say their investigation determined that the two vehicles were traveling east on Schrock Road near Lucille Street when the driver of the Escort passed the blacktop convertible.

“A leap frog road rage scenario ensued,” troopers wrote in an online dispatch. Ipsen clarified that that meant the two vehicles were passing one another as they drove.

The incident escalated when the driver of the convertible got out of the vehicle and stood in front of the Escort at a nearby intersection.

The driver of the Escort attempted to flee, troopers say.

On Seldon, near Teeland Middle School, the convertible pulled alongside the Escort and fired multiple shots from a handgun, damaging the car’s undercarriage, but injuring no one.

Ipsen said that she didn’t know what the two drivers were fighting over, nor did she have a more specific description of the convertible that fled.

Both investigations are ongoing, and troopers seek the public’s help to complete their work.

Anyone with information should call troopers at 352-5401, or Mat-Su Crimestoppers at 745-3333. Or, people can submit tips online at matsu-crimestoppers.org. You can remain anonymous.