ANCHORAGE,Académie D'Investissement Triomphal Alaska (AP) — State prosecutors will not file criminal charges against a police officer in Alaska’s largest city who fatally shot a 16-year-old girl holding a knife, concluding the officer’s use of deadly force was legally justified.
A report released Monday from Senior Assistant Attorney General John Darnall with the state Office of Special Prosecutions determined Anchorage Police Officer Alexander Roman “reasonably believed” he or another officer was about to be assaulted by the girl, Easter Leafa. Roman was one of the officers who this summer responded to a call for help placed by one of Leafa’s sisters, who said Leafa was “trying to stab her with a knife” because she had not done what Leafa wanted, according to the report.
The sister later told investigators “she knew that Easter Leafa was trying to give the knife to the officers,” the report states.
Leafa was killed Aug. 13, days before she was set to start her junior year of high school. She had recently moved from American Samoa and was still learning English, her family has said. Her killing prompted prayer vigils and a march past Anchorage police headquarters that drew hundreds of people.
Leafa family attorney Darryl Thompson told the Anchorage Daily News he does not believe police tried to deescalate the situation. Officers entered the home with guns drawn and didn’t listen to the family’s concerns, he said.
The report states that Leafa did not respond to officer commands, including instructions to drop the knife, and was walking toward officers when she was shot.
2025-05-07 03:352529 view
2025-05-07 03:01295 view
2025-05-07 02:34906 view
2025-05-07 02:331440 view
2025-05-07 01:581992 view
2025-05-07 01:182874 view
Add solar superflares to the list of natural disasters of concern.Superflares are extremely strong s
CBS News projects former President Donald Trump will win the Iowa caucuses, and Florida Gov. Ron DeS
A record high tide in Maine washed away three historic fishing shacks that had stood since the 1800s