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Two Dead, Two Wounded In Sitka Village ShootingBy THAD POULSON Sentinel Managing Editor a 24-year-old Sitka man was being held today in connection with the shooting deaths of his ^ mother and a neighbor and theI wounding of two other persons, one a police officer who was critically injured The suspect, Michael Kathlean, was booked into the Sitka jail shortly after 1 a m today on a complaint alleging first degree murder. He was to be arrainged at 1:30 p.m. today Dead are his mother, Mrs. Margie Cook, about 45, and Charles Hepler, 42 Sitka Police Capt. Richard Shaffer was reported in serious condition in Sitka Community Hospital today following emergency surgery for treatment of a gunshot wound in the abdomen.. V The other wounded man,James Penney, was treated for a grazing wound on one shoulder Authorities said today the cause of the shootings had not J been establishedThe shootings all took place in the vicinity of the adjoining Cook and Hepler homes on Kogwonton Street, on the hill above the Pioneer Bar Before Kathlean was taken into custody every available police officer in Sitka I had been called to duty and the1 Cook house, where he hadbarricaded himself, was theiei£TYlcenter °* a P*tchec* Bun battle Kathlean was finally forced out of the house by tear gas and captured without a struggle A 22 caliber semi-automatic rifle, the weapon believed used in the series of shootings, was found in the house after the suspect was taken into custody.ifAuthorities gave this account of the events that ensued:The shooting had stopped and while some officers cautiously scouted the neighborhood for the assailant, others found Hepler’s body in his house. He had been shot once in the head, the shot apparently coming from outside the house. A nearby window had a bullet-size hole.Unsure of the whereabouts of the unknown assailant, some officers posted a watch on the vicinity while others followed leads that took them from the Community College to Thomsen Harbor At one point Mullenix and Shaffer knocked on the door of the darkened Cook House, but there was no response.During the manhunt Shaffer alerted Police Chief Lawrence Carley, who was on vacation, at his home and an alert was put out for all law officers in the Sitka area. The Public Safety Academy was put on standby alert. Later when movement was noticed inside the Cook House it again became the focus of the investigationWhen there was no response to their shouted orders to come out, Mullenix and Shaffer approached the front door of the Cook house Shaffer was attempting to kick the door open when he was struck by a shot fired from the inside through the closed door The wounded officer and Mullenixreturned the fire through the closed door.With Mullenix unable to leave his position beside the front door because of the narrow storm porch and an inward-swinging outer door which limited his movement, Shaffer was assisted from the field of fire in the front yard by Sgt Lemke The rescue squad ambulance which was standing by took him to the hospitalThere was a further exchange of shots between officers and the interior of the house before a “barricade projectile” tear gas cartridge was fired through a window The gas spread through the house, and shortly afterward Kathlean emerged, without a weapon, through the window A number of officers pounced on him and he was taken to jail without further resistanceThe body of Mrs Cook was found inside the house after Kathlean was apprehended She had been shot once in the head. A 22 caliber rifle was also found in the house Chief Carley had high praise for the local and state officers, firemen and rescue personnel who responded to the alert. During the Back Street seige firemen posted roadblocks on surrounding streets to keep people from wandering into the danger areaPres-ay alllio inis be-More Trouble Erupts In Truckers Protestiprove-»nce ofNixon nterest in 1963 s fromi Com-ninated it con-leserve volun fstrain!y after ent re- had a plus in billion imports nprove-tuation to two he dol-itPolice said they received their first call at 10:45 p.m Monday night, reporting that Charles Hepler had been shot at his home on Kogwonton Street and was dead.Police Officers Andy Harper and Jim Mullenix responded to the call. Mullenix encountered Penney in Katlian Street near the Pioneer Bar Penney had been wounded, and told the officer that he had been fired at several times by someone up the hill on Kogwonton Street Penney said he had come out onto the street in front of his second floor Katlian Street apartment to investigate after a bullet had been fired through his apartment window No one had been injured by that shot.Shots were also fired at Mullenix, fron the direction of Kogwonton Street, the officer later reported, and he put in a call for assistance. Captain Shaffer responded, and also State Troopers Jim Stogsdill and Larry Mix A National Guard military policeman, Sgt Lemke also cameIn Ihp sceneBy THE ASSOCIATED PRESS More trouble flared along northeastern Ohio highwayss overnight as independent truckers carried their protest against high fuel costs and low freight rates into its eighth day At least two shooting incidents were reported The incidents followed a day of violence Monday during which police in Pennsylvania and Ohio reported arrests, gunshots, burned rigs and truckers being beaten and threatened.Spokesman for the truckers who are attempting to shut down traffic denied responsibility for the violence.In Washington, D C , Monday night, special presidential assistant W.J Usery Jr. promised the truckers that help from the government was on the way and called for an end to the protestBut George Rynn, president of the Council of Independent Truckers, said in Ohio that the protest would continue until the federal government took con-days of sporadic violence in the western part erf the state They said they had reports early today of rocks or bricks being thrown through the windshields of two moving trucks but said no one was injured.Incidents Sunday night and Monday in Ohio included the beating of two men while they were making deliveries in a bread truck. Both were hospitalized, as was an Illinois man who was shot in his right shoulder while driving on In-terstae 79 near the Pennsylvania borderNixon to Give Policy SpeechWASHINGTON lt;AP — A lengthy written message on domestic policy will be sent to Congress by President Nixon Wednesday,“'the same day he makes his State of the Union address, spokesmen say
Newspaper Details
Daily Sitka Sentinel
Sitka, Alaska, US
Tue, Jan 29, 1974
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Sitka A.
Select State, USA 12 Oct 2023
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