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A 19-year-old man was arrested Saturday evening after he broke into the Kwethluk public safety building in Southwest Alaska, armed himself with multiple rifles, pulled the fire alarm and fired on a responding village police officer.
Brian Nicolai, of Kwethluk, is charged with four counts of attempted first-degree murder, third-degree assault, first-degree burglary, third-degree criminal mischief and first-degree criminal trespass. He was arraigned Saturday in Bethel court.
According to a news release on the Alaska State Trooper website, villagers responded to the public safety building to assist with fighting what they believed to be a house fire. Inside the building, Nicolai had forced open the village public safety officer’s locked office door, put on a ballistic vest and a helmet and staged multiple rifles.
Nicolai pointed a rifle at an approaching village police officer and pulled the trigger, according to the trooper news release. The rifle didn’t fire and the officer ran for cover. Nicolai grabbed another rifle and fired multiple shots in the general direction of the officer.
A Kwethluk resident who saw what was happening left the scene, returned with a rifle and talked Nicolai into lowering his weapon. Nicolai lay down on the floor and was quickly subdued by village police officers.
Bethel-based troopers in Kwethluk responded to a report of an active shooter inside the public safety building at 5:18 p.m. Saturday and requested assistance from Aniak troopers. Nicolai was arrested on scene and transported to Yukon Kuskowim Correctional Center.
Kwethluk is a village of approximately 720 people located near the confluence of the Kuskokwim River and Kuskokuak Slough, about 11 air miles from Bethel.
Contact staff writer Dorothy Chomicz at 459-7582. Follow her on Twitter: @FDNMcrime.