At 5:40 p.m. on Saturday, the Sitka Police Department received a call that a shooting occurred on a commercial fishing boat in Eliason Harbor. Photo/KCAW
After a two hour manhunt, Sitka police arrested 35-year-old Nathan Leask Saturday evening for allegedly shooting another male. According to court records, Leask was charged with one felony count of first-degree assault, and one misdemeanor count of fourth-degree assault.
At 5:40 p.m. on Saturday, the Sitka Police Department received a call that a shooting occurred on a commercial fishing boat in Eliason Harbor.
Officers arrived to find a man with a gunshot wound to the thigh and a woman, uninjured. According to an SPD press release, Leask entered the vessel occupied by the victim, armed with a handgun. An altercation occurred, and during the fight, Leask’s firearm was discharged. Leask then fled the scene.
An hour after the initial call, SPD received word that the shooter was inside the Blatchley Middle School pool area — though that later proved to be untrue. School staff received information from a third-hand source that a shooting had occurred, Police Chief Jeff Ankerfelt said. As a precaution, staff activated a lockdown procedure and evacuated the school.
Police arrived at the scene and searched the area, but Leask was not there. According to the press release, at no time was there a man with a gun in the school.
Officers searched multiple locations over the course of two hours, and imposed a city-wide lockdown. They advised all residents to stay indoors. They ultimately zeroed in on Leask at an undisclosed home address. Ankerfelt said Leask surrendered to officers after negotiations over the telephone. He was in police custody by 7:30 p.m.
The male victim, whose name has not been released, was medevaced to Seattle for treatment. Leask is currently being held in Sitka Jail with bail set at $100,000.
