Alaska State Troopers revealed details Friday on the fatal shooting of a suspect during an attempt to arrest him on warrants charging several counts of sexually abusing a minor. And they identified the two officers who fired their weapons while searching for the suspect in an area about 40 miles south of Delta Junction.
Troopers aren’t saying much about Tuesday’s fatal shooting, citing the ongoing investigation. But they disclosed some of the events leading up to the death of 59-year old Daniel Duane Jensen Jr., who was wanted on an outstanding felony warrant charging multiple counts of first- and second-degree sexual abuse of a minor under age 13.
A Troopers news release issued Friday morning says two members of a U.S. Marshal Fugitive Task Force that was looking for Jensen fired their weapons while trying to arrest him. They are Jack LeBlanc, an investigator with the Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit’s Fairbanks Narcotics Team; and Nathan Werner, a North Pole police officer and Fairbanks Narcotics Team member.
Troopers spokesman Ken Marsh says the shooting occurred soon after task force members began a door-to-door search for Jensen among several structures on a remote property near milepost 1399 of the Alaska Highway.
“And while they were searching those structures, Jensen was actually seen with another individual through a window,” Marsh said. He wouldn’t say whether the person seen with Jensen was held or arrested in connection with the case, due to the ongoing investigation.
“Jensen spotted law enforcement approaching, and he apparently grabbed a high-power rifle,” Marsh said, “And when he did that, that led to law enforcement opening fire.”
Jensen died of injuries sustained in the shooting, but Marsh wouldn’t say this morning who fired the fatal shot. No other injuries were reported by members of the task force, which included Troopers and Anchorage Police.
The two officers who fired their weapons both were placed on 72 hours of paid leave, as is routine for shootings involving police. The Alaska Bureau of Investigation is looking into the case. When that investigation is completed, it’ll be reviewed by the state Office of Special Prosecutions.
The charges against Daniel Jensen stem from a Trooper investigation into alleged offenses that according to online court documents were committed 18 years ago. The records show Jensen was indicted in October 2013 on five felony counts of sexual abuse of a minor under age 13 in the Delta area in 2002 and 2003. But the records don’t show that he ever went to trial on the charges.
A separate online court record entry shows Jensen was charged in April 2015 with a misdemeanor count of violating a condition of release. The records show that Troopers issued a warrant for Jensen for failing to appear in for court two proceedings in April 2015. Law enforcement agencies had been searching for him since then.
