No injuries, but Troopers ask the public for tips about vehicle linked to Richardson, Steese highway shootings
The Alaska Bureau of Investigation is looking into two incidents involving shots fired at two Black Gold Transport ore-hauling trucks late last week near Fairbanks.
Investigators provided more information this morning about a vehicle they suspect was involved in the shootings.
The investigation bureau has launched what it’s calling an attempted murder investigation into the truck shootings that occurred late Thursday night and early Friday morning.
Black Gold Transport said bullets struck both trucks, but an Alaska State Trooper spokesperson declined Sunday to say how many hit the trucks and what caliber of weapon was used.
Alaska Bureau of Information Commander Capt. Tony Wegrzy also declined to disclose information about the weapon. But he said this morning that investigators believe they’ve identified the type of white SUV the shooter was driving.
“I can say fairly definitively that we’ve narrowed it down to a Honda Pilot,” he said.
Troopers say they got a report about the first shooting just before midnight Thursday that involved a truck passing by Eielson Air Force Base. The truck driver reported that the occupants of a white SUV fired several shots at the rig at around milepost 339.
Troopers got another report early Friday morning about shots fired from a white SUV at a second Black Gold Transport truck near the Steese Highway-Chena Hot Springs Road intersection.
Wegrzy confirmed during a meeting with reporters in Fairbanks that the Honda Pilot was used in both shooting incidents. He said in one of the incidents, it appears the shots were fired while the SUV was passing one of the rigs.
“Obviously, we have two different shootings in two different places,” he said. “So, in one of the places, the ore truck had actually taken an exit and the white Honda Pilot stayed on the highway. But for the other shooting, they were basically side-by-side on the highway.”
Black Gold transports an average of 60 truckloads of ore daily from the Manh Choh mine near Tetlin to the Kinross Fort Knox mill near Fox. Many members of the public who live along that 247-mile route have expressed opposition to the trucking operation. But no evidence has been released linking that opposition to last week’s shootings.
Barbara Schuhmann is a spokesperson for Advocates for Safe Alaska Highways, which opposed the ore-trucking plan. She said today that the organization doesn’t condone violence.
“Advocates for Safe Alaska Highways have always only advocated for safety on the highways,” she said, and so, what has happened is the opposite of that."
A Kinross Alaska spokesperson said this morning in an email that the company is working closely with Troopers on the case. She said Kinross and Black Gold Transport are working to ensure safe conditions.
Wegrzy, the Bureau of Investigation commander, said that’s a good idea.
“We aren’t providing any guidance necessarily, in that regard,” he said. “But now they’re taking their own precautions, which is completely normal, I think, for this kind of situation.”
The Kinross spokesperson added that, “Our thoughts are with the BGT drivers and employees, who were shaken by these events.
We are incredibly grateful that no one was physically injured.”
Schuhmann says Advocates for Safe Alaska Highways share those sentiments.
“We’re very grateful no one was hurt,” she said, “and we would just urge everyone, whether you support or oppose the ore haul, to be safe, to be sensible, and to be kind.”
Kinross Alaska is part of the joint venture that mines the gold ore that the trucking contractor hauls.
Black Gold and Contango Ore, Kinross’s junior partner in the mine, both have offered $10,000 rewards – a total of $20,000 -- for information that leads to the identification and arrest of those involved in the shootings.
Wegrzy says the rewards may encourage members of the public to contact Troopers with information about the shootings.
Troopers have posted photos of the vehicle, and asked for help from the public identifying the vehicle. And they’re asking that anyone with information about the incidents to contact the Fairbanks office at 907-451-5100.
Editor's note: This story has been updated.
Disclaimer: Kinross Alaska is a KUAC underwriter.
