Wasilla man dies in Anchorage shooting

MAT-SU — Anchorage Police said Wednesday that one of two men shot to death in east Anchorage was from Wasilla.

Matthew Nick Peterson, 19, died in a hail of gunfire in the 1600 block of Russian Jack Drive, a few blocks from the intersection of Bragaw Street and Reka Drive. Also killed in the shooting was Anchorage resident Christon Shannon Lee, 19.

Anchorage Police Department Spokesman Lt. Dave Parker said multiple callers reported shots fired at 4:04 a.m. Wednesday.

“We get the shots fired and then people are looking out there seeing the shooter run to his car get in and leave,” Parker said. “That’s kind of the story we have so far.”

Other information — the number of shots fired, the type of gun used, whether bullets flew in one direction or both, what Peterson and Lee were doing there and why they were shot — was not available as of yet, Parker said. The detectives are working to find that out.

“My money’s on the homicide detectives, they know what they’re doing and they’re good,” he said.

Thursday, Parker said, detectives learned that the getaway car was a black Cadillac driven by a man. In addition to the male shooter there was also a woman inside. They asked folks to be on the lookout.

By Thursday morning, Peterson’s myspace page was filled with condolences.

“Damn Rest In Peace bro :(” one wrote.

“Rip little dude. I don’t even know what to say,” wrote another.

Peterson lists his alma maters as Wasilla High School and Burchell High School and joked that his areas of study including “skating” and “hustling.”

Court records show Peterson has a criminal history. Most of his cases involved drunken driving, underage drinking, or both.

But in November 2007 he was charged with armed robbery, criminal mischief and assault.

He and an accomplice, Jeremy Kosbruk, were accused of breaking into a home to rob its occupants. Troopers later found the apartment’s residents were growing marijuana. Everyone at the time gave a different account of events. Most everyone involved knew one another.

Peterson eventually pleaded guilty to a single count of criminal mischief and was sentenced on Nov. 11, 2008 to 360 days in jail, which was about what he’d already served.