Neighbors raise alarm over ‘armed encampment’ on Juneau’s Capital Avenue

Published 3:30 pm Monday, July 27, 2026

Residents of a Juneau neighborhood are calling on city officials to remove what they describe as an “armed encampment.”

“The encampment on Capital Avenue, a longtime obnoxious nuisance, has become a threat to public safety,” according to a letter from Peter and Sandra Metcalfe on behalf of a group of residents.

The letter was directed to officials with the City and Borough of Juneau, Juneau Police Department and other local agencies. It calls on the city, through the Division of Lands & Resources and police, to clear the Capital Avenue camp, clean up the site located on city land, and then secure the area against re-encampment.

“There have been some cleanup efforts, but within a month it’s just a garbage dump again,” said Metcalfe, who has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years and has seen a photo of the camp in 2003.

The neighbors say the situation escalated from a “longtime obnoxious nuisance” to a threat to public safety earlier this month when a person in the camp shot a young black bear in a tree on the edge of the encampment.

“The animal was grievously wounded, and a Fish and Game officer had to track it down to put the young bear out of its misery,” said the letter from the Metcalfes, who suspect the shots were fired upwards in the direction of the Fosbee, a 30-unit apartment building directly above the site.

They said the incident didn’t occur in isolation, as the garbage piles that have grown out of the encampment for years have attracted bears to the neighborhood.

“For years, the camp has created conditions no neighborhood should have to endure: clouds of toxic smoke, garbage piles measured by the truckload, and human and household waste left directly on the ground,” said the letter. “Discarded hypodermic needles litter the area around the camp and have been dragged with other refuse by bears into the surrounding neighborhood, presenting hazards to people, pets, and wildlife.”

They say nearby residents are frequently woken before dawn by disturbances at the site, where drugs are openly used.

“Now that we know the people in this camp are armed and have fired a weapon with no regard for who is nearby, we have reason to fear for our safety,” said the letter.

Metcalfe said he has been in contact with the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska as well as Alaska Electric Light & Power, who he says have been very helpful and expressed concern about the situation. A Juneau assemblyman has also contacted Metcalfe since he sent the letter on Friday (July 24) and promised to look into the issue.