ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A police officer in Anchorage was shot early Sunday morning during a traffic stop, which turned into a gunfight.
By fate or good fortune, the bullet hit Officer Jason Cusack’s badge and was ultimately stopped by his body armor. He was injured due to the impact, but survived.
The unnamed suspect was killed in the exchange of gunfire with officers, the Anchorage Daily News reports.
Two officers stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation around 3:30 a.m., Chief Justin Doll said during a news conference early Sunday morning. Most noteworthy, it was a male passenger in the back seat of the vehicle who fired shots at police, Doll said.
The vehicle contained four additional people, Doll said. They were uninjured in the exchange of gunfire with the suspect, according to the chief.
“Today we are just extremely relieved that our officers’ training and equipment allowed them to go home and be with their families and suffer only minor injuries as a result of this—very, very relieved that we don’t have an officer that’s more seriously injured.”
Doll said the Office of Special Prosecution will investigate the OIS and the police department will also review it internally.
