A Juneau man was found dead near University of Alaska Southeast campus housing Sunday morning. Benjamin Parson, 39, appears to have died from a gunshot wound, said Juneau Police Department spokesman Lt. David Campbell.
Parson’s body was sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage. Campbell said JPD suspects the death was a suicide, but police are not ruling anything out yet.
“We’re suspecting (suicide), but we don’t know for sure,” Campbell said on the phone Monday. “At this point, there aren’t any persons of interest or suspects at large that we’re looking for. The Medical Examiner’s Office will hopefully be able to shed some light on what we’re dealing with here.”
JPD received a report Sunday at 11:13 a.m. Sunday of an unresponsive male with a facial injury located in a trailhead parking lot off of University Drive. Campbell said Parson’s body was found relatively close to UAS housing, but not on university property.
“Off that road is a parking lot and at the edge of the parking lot was a pickup truck. From the road, you couldn’t see anything, but when you got up to the pickup truck, the driver’s side doors were open and Benjamin Parson was on the ground, outside with a (fatal) injury,” Campbell said.
A U.S. Forest Service officer was first on scene, followed by JPD and Capital City Fire/Rescue. JPD recovered a small caliber firearm that was found close to Parson’s body.
UAS spokesperson Keni Campbell said Parson is not a student, staff or faculty member of UAS.
• Contact reporter Lisa Phu at 523-2246 or lisa.phu@juneauempire.com.
Editor’s note: Are you in crisis and need help? If you are looking for help for yourself or others, please talk to someone. Call the Alaska Careline at 1-877-266-HELP, or text 4help to 839863 from 3-11 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. You can also visit the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the Alaska Community Mental Health Centers or juneausuicideprevention.org.
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