UPDATE: Troopers shoot, kill Valley woman

WASILLA — Alaska State Troopers shot and killed a gun-wielding woman Tuesday at the Garrett Medical building on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway.

Troopers say they were called at 6:32 p.m to the building just past Seward-Meridian Parkway on the Wasilla side of the highway. A caller to 911 had reported a woman had fired a gun inside the facility. Dispatchers told troopers the woman was reportedly still outside trying to get back in.

Troopers later identified the woman as Debra L. Torrey, 38, of Wasilla.

Every trooper on duty was sent to the scene – something in the neighborhood of 15 officers, trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said, though not all of them arrived before the shooting.

Troopers say the woman didn’t drop her gun when ordered and made “threatening statements and motions.” Two troopers fired on Torrey and she died at the scene. No one else was hurt.

Torrey was a patient of a therapist at Capstone Family Medicine, office manager Darjon Grimm said Wednesday afternoon.

Grimm said she has no idea what set Torrey off and that nobody saw any warning signs in her.

“She has a continued relationship with that physician and it’s not something anybody foresaw,” Grimm said.

She said mood around the office had mainly been one of shock. Torrey was a regular patient and a lot of the staff knew her.

“This just doesn’t happen around here,” she said.

Grimm was not at the building at the time. She said the medical practice mostly shuts down at 5 p.m., with the therapist seeing patients until 7.

Still, she’s talked to people and, “I think when she came in there was no clear agitation,” Grimm said.

In her opinion, Grimm said, everyone acted appropriately, including Torrey’s physician and the troopers.

“I definitely think that the troopers responded quickly and I think they handled it very well,” Grimm said.

Next door at the Public Health Center, nobody had much to say. Their office was closed at the time and employees had heard about the incident in news reports.

Around back, lines of orange paint troopers sprayed in the snowy parking lot to mark the scene was the only evidence something had happened. Grimm said even the shot Torrey fired in the office didn’t leave much evidence – it went through the floor, causing little damage.

Peters said the whole incident, start to finish, was relatively brief. At least three troopers and the Wasilla police officer had time to make it to the scene before it was over, she said.

The Alaska Bureau of Investigation, a division of the troopers, is investigating. Peters said the incident will be handled as troopers would a criminal investigation. Once the facts have been gathered, she said, troopers will hand their report over to the state’s Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals, which will make a decision.

Citing the ongoing investigation, Peters could not release details such as the nature of Torrey’s threats or the number of shots fired at her. Peters could also offer no opinion as to what the department’s investigation will find.

“The investigation has not concluded yet. So I can’t tell you if something was wrong or if it was justified,” Peters said. “I would love to come out and say that but the investigation hasn’t concluded yet.”

Peters said the two officers who fired their guns were placed on administrative leave for three days, as is the department’s policy. When their leave is up, their names will be released.

“This is a tragedy for everybody, it’s a tragedy for the troopers that were on scene, it’s a tragedy for the troopers that fired their guns, it’s a tragedy for the woman’s family,” Peters said. “We don’t go someplace thinking that this is going to be the end result. Preservation of life is very important to us.”

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