Trooper identified in fatal Copper Center shooting

An Alaska State Trooper who fatally shot a Copper Center man Friday, has been identified as a six-year veteran of the force. Glennallen-based Trooper Kamau Leigh, shot Eric Hash at a Copper Center residence at about 3 a.m. Friday. Troopers say family members called, saying Hash had assaulted one person, and others were in fear of being hurt.

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Troopers say Leigh fired as Hash advanced toward his patrol vehicle with a container of an “incapacitating, flammable liquid”.

Hash died after being medivaced to a hospital.

The Alaska Bureau of Investigation is looking into the shooting, after which the Office of Special Prosecution will make a determination on whether deadly force was justified.

Trooper Leigh was one of five officers involved in a September 2015 shooting in Fairbanks. Thirty three-year-old Vincent Perdue was killed, and 20-year-old Sarah Smoke was injured in the shooting which came at the end of a vehicle chase, during which Perdue and Smoke had fired on pursuing officers.

Dan Bross is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.

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