Alaska State Troopers shot and killed a Wasilla man Thursday who officials say was evading arrest on a boat near Whittier after he was convicted of sexually abusing a minor.
A Palmer jury convicted Philip Phillips, 58, on two counts of sexual abuse of a minor in a 2020 incident in Big Lake.
In a statement, Department of Law officials said Phillips fled Palmer on Monday after a jury was selected for his trial. The court found that Phillips had absconded, waiving his right to be present at the trial. The trial continued without him and he was convicted of all charges on Thursday, according to the Department of Law.
Phillips is believed to have set out from Whittier in a boat on Tuesday. Troopers issued a warrant for him on Thursday. In a statement, troopers said members of a SWAT team found Phillips, armed with a handgun, on a boat anchored near Whittier at about 8 p.m. Thursday.
Phillips refused to cooperate, and troopers used chemical agents and “less-lethal tools” to try to subdue him, according to the trooper statement. Phillips put on a ballistic vest and retrieved a gas mask when the chemicals were deployed, troopers said. He then “brandished his firearm in the direction of the officers,” who then shot and killed him, troopers said.
The officers who shot at Phillips were placed on administrative leave, per Department of Public Safety policy. Their names will be released after 72 hours.
A Department of Public Safety spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about the number of officers who shot Phillips, the kinds of chemical agents deployed or where, specifically, the boat was located.
The Alaska Bureau of Investigation is looking into the shooting, and its investigation will be reviewed by the Office of Special Prosecutions to see if the troopers’ use of lethal force was justified.
