Editor's note: This story has been updated.
An Alaska State Trooper fatally shot a man early Monday after he reportedly tried to break into a motel room in Tok, according to an online trooper report.
Troopers say they got a call around 2:30 a.m. from a person staying at the Three Bears Motel who said a man was trying to break into their room.
Troopers spokesperson Austin McDaniel said a Tok-based trooper went to the motel and saw a man brandishing an assault-style rifle outside the building.
“Due to the adult male’s actions, the Alaska State Trooper shot the adult male with their handgun,” he said Monday. A Trooper news release identified the man as 21-year-old Timothy Taylor, of Northway.
“Thomas was declared deceased at the scene,” McDaniel said Monday. “No troopers or other individuals were injured during the incident.”
On Thursday, the Alaska Bureau of Investigation identified the officer: Timothy Rosario, who's served three years as an Alaska State Trooper.
McDaniel said Thomas’s body has been sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage for an autopsy. He said Rosario was placed on 72 hours of administrative leave. The Alaska Office of Special Prosecutions will conduct an independent review of the troopers’ investigation into the shooting, McDaniel said.
“This is all part of our standard response to any in-custody death,” he said.
McDaniel declined to answer other questions, citing the ongoing investigation.
The Three Bears Motel is owned by Wasilla-based Three Bears Alaska, which operates a chain of grocery and convenience stores around the state.
A front-desk worker at the motel on Monday referred all questions to company officials. A Three Bears spokesperson declined to comment.
