ANCHORAGE — A man sought by Anchorage police after a fatal shooting near two downtown schools was taken into custody Tuesday.
Police Chief Christopher Tolley said Tommy Rumph was sought in the shooting that left a man dead at 15th Avenue and C Street.
“We believe that’s the only person involved in this altercation right now,” he said.
The busy intersection borders Chugach Middle School and is two blocks from Chugach Optional Elementary School. School district officials closed both as officers swarmed the area looking for Rumph.
He was taken into custody nearly 2 miles away and surrendered peacefully, police said. He was taken to police headquarters for questioning.
The incident began just after 6 a.m.
Police received a report of shots fired and found a man fatally wounded on C Street just south of 15th Avenue. The name of the man shot has not been released.
Police descended on the scene, and with a suspect on the loose, warned drivers to stay away.
As the opening of school approached, school officials announced that Central Middle School and Chugach Optional would close for the day.
Central Middle School serves both neighborhood students and some from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. As students started to arrive by bus, they were redirected to West High School as police looked for the suspected shooter.
Police by 7:35 a.m. had put out a detailed description of Rumph and followed shortly afterward with his name and a photograph. The warned that he could be armed.
Rumph surrendered near 29th Avenue and Willow Street.
Tolley said he could not immediately release details of the shooting and could not comment on whether it was drug-related.
He thanked the public for its cooperation in the incident.
“It’s so tragic that the public has to live through these situations, have our children see officers with guns on the corners as they come to school, and so on,” Tolley said. “But we have protocols in place and we worked with the school system, as well as the community, and fortunately, we were able to resolve this rather quickly.”
He said it did not appear the incident was connected to other recent fatal shootings.
“This seems to be an isolated incident,” Tolley said.
