Date May 1, 2014 Deaths 2 | Location Tanana, Alaska Non-fatal injuries 0 | |
Participants Sgt. Patrick Johnson, Trooper Gabriel Rich, Nathanial Lee Kangas Outcome Sgt. Patrick Johnson and Trooper Gabriel Rich dead | ||
On May 1, 2014, two officers of the Alaska State Troopers were killed in Tanana after responding to a report of a resident brandishing a gun in an altercation over the private sale of a $150 couch. The Fairbanks-based troopers, Sgt. Patrick Johnson and Trooper Gabriel Rich, had been featured in the National Geographic Channel program Alaska State Troopers. 19-year-old Tanana resident Nathanial Lee Kangas was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and a single count of third-degree assault. Kangas allegedly shot and killed the officers as they attempted to arrest his father, Arvin Kangas, at the family's home. Arvin Kangas, 58, was charged with assault for pointing a shotgun at the local Public Safety Officer during the incident that prompted the troopers' investigation.
On May 5, the chairman of the Tanana Tribal Council issued a statement expressing the council's shock and grief and offering condolences to the families of the officers, stating, "We want them to know that this was the action of individuals and that this was not, and is not, Tanana." Later that week, the tribal council voted unanimously to ban the elder Kangas and another resident from the community for their indirect roles in the deaths of the officers.