More so than perhaps any of the prior shootings this summer, Easter Leafa’s case raises a host of disturbing questions that police have yet to fully answer.
Updated: 18 minutes agoAttendees observe a moment of silence for Easter Leafa. About 100 people gathered for a vigil for Easter Leafa on the Delaney Park Strip downtown on August 16, 2024. Leafa, 16, was shot and killed by police who said they were responding to a domestic disturbance on August 13.
Let’s stipulate up front that law enforcement is a demanding, stressful and often thankless job, and that — especially lately — Alaska departments have struggled to attract and retain high-quality officers, and that’s also a problem that our state needs to solve. Our state and local officers simply have to be paid more, and that should be a top priority.
• What did Leafa do to warrant a lethal response? According to police, she was agitated — seemingly in some form of mental distress — and holding a knife, and she moved toward officers. Were her actions so threatening to police that she deserved to die? • If a violent response was ultimately necessary, why did police jump to the use of lethal force immediately? Bizarrely, police have said that one responding officer fired a less-lethal round at the same time as another was firing live bullets.
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