This story has been updated with additional details of the state investigation results as well as the bodycam footage now scheduled for release Tuesday.
Bodycam footage and the results of a state investigation into the fatal shooting of Steven Kissack are scheduled to be released Tuesday, with an original plan to release the footage Friday delayed due to the pending investigation results, Juneau Police Chief Derek Bos said Friday afternoon.
The July 15 shooting, as with all officer-involved shootings, is being investigated by the state Office of Special Prosecutions, which is planning to publish its findings Tuesday, Bos said. He said the Juneau Police Department plans to publish the bodycam videos from the four department officers involved in the incident at its website after the state’s report is received.
“We’re willing to wait four days until that’s finished,” he said.
The state agency has assessed about 150 officer-involved shootings since 2010, none of which have resulted in a recommendation of criminal charges.
Kissack, 35, who had lived on the streets of Juneau for several years, was killed following a confrontation with four JPD officers and an Alaska Wildlife Trooper that lasted more than 15 minutes. Videos posted online by observers show he was holding a knife, was hit repeatedly by non-lethal projectiles fired by the officers, and then started running in the general direction of at least one officer while holding the knife immediately before two officers fired the fatal shots at him.
What isn’t clear from the previously posted videos is if Kissack was running directly at an officer or may have been attempting to escape. JPD issued a statement July 23 that he yelled threats about killing the officers and “charged at the officers while brandishing his knife,” which observers critical of the officers’ actions have said they believe Kissack was trying to run away.
“Clearly this is a traumatic event,” Bos said. “This is not something that everybody should watch. There are people who’ve been through traumatic events in their lives and, if they know what their triggers are, they should be cognizant of what they’re doing. I would also say this is not for all age groups — our children, our younger kids, teens probably shouldn’t be watching this because it is a dramatic event.”
Steven Kissack and his dog, Juno, take shelter in the doorway of the Front Street Clinic building on Dec. 24, 2023. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Members of Kissack’s family, who live out of state, will be shown the video prior to the public release, Bos said.
The footage of the trooper’s bodycam, in accordance with Alaska Department of Public Safety policy, is also not being released until a state investigation into the shooting is completed.
Bos said the original plan to release the JPD footage Friday wasn’t based on an official department policy.
“There’s nothing magical about today,” he said. “We wanted to release it earlier and part of this has just been the compromise between us, the state troopers and the attorney general’s office on what the timing looks like.”
The JPD videos will blur out “witness information,” but otherwise do not include other editing or explanatory voiceovers, Bos said.
“We’ll have a short — it’s probably one page, if that — narrative that’s coming out with it, but my position is in full transparency we’re just going to release the video,” he said.
The bodycam video was shown a week ago Monday to Juneau Assembly members who opted to view it so they would be aware of the possible public response beforehand, Bos said.
Mayor Beth Weldon, in an interview Friday morning, said “it’s going to be hard for people to watch,” but “I think they will find the answers they’re looking for.”
“If they watch the whole thing they’ll see the situation (goes) from just a police officer talking to him — no confrontation whatsoever — all the way until the very last confrontation. And like I said it’s going to be hard for people to watch because it goes from nothing until somebody dies.”
The incident began when a JPD officer approached Kissack about an assault he was suspected of the previous day, according to the department statement issued in July. Police and court records also state Kissack, who had only minor camping-related offenses on his record since an assault case involving an officer in 2021, had become more confrontational toward officers starting in February of this year.
Friends and family of Steven Kissack place their hands on each others’ shoulders in a show of support at a storefront on Front Street where he often slept during a memorial gathering Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
His death resulted in widespread local reaction by people who said they knew him — and/or his canine companion Juno — many of whom criticized the circumstances that allowed him to live on the streets for years as well as the actions by police. Three siblings of Kissack who visited Juneau in late August, taking part in a memorial ceremony attended by more than 100 people, said they are considering legal action once they see the bodycam footage.
Weldon said she didn’t see anything in the bodycam footage that she expects would lead to a consideration of policy changes by the Juneau Assembly.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
