State clears three Anchorage officers 112 days after fatal Bragaw Street shooting

The Alaska Office of Special Prosecutions, which reviews police use of force and decides whether to charge officers, cleared three Anchorage police officers, Jacob Jones, Justin Miller and Alexander Roman, of criminal liability in the fatal shooting of Emil McCord, 112 days after the shooting that killed him.

The release, dated Sept. 8, states: "The review determined that Officer Jones, Officer Miller, and Officer Roman were each legally justified in the use of deadly force against McCord."

Officers responded to a 911 call reporting a man firing gunshots into the air at Bragaw Street and Reka Drive at about 12:03 a.m. on May 19. The state says McCord, 33, walked toward officers holding a handgun, was ordered to drop it multiple times, then pointed it at them. He was struck multiple times and, APD said, was pronounced dead at a hospital.

APD's May statement said Internal Affairs would review the officers' actions for policy violations only after the state's review concluded, meaning that review is now due to begin, though no timeline has been published. That statement also said the state's findings "will be available for the public to review," but the published release is seven sentences with no supporting links. The Department of Law says: "Due to resource constraints, we no longer post links to referenced records," directing requests to its information officer or a public records request.

This is the third officer-involved shooting review the office has completed in 2026, after ones in Anchor Point (102 days) and Fairbanks (99 days). All three cleared the officers involved.

The clearance comes six days after Anchorage's Municipal Attorney's Office released a final report from consulting firm 21CP Solutions on APD's use-of-force policies, prompted by a 2024 officer-involved shooting. An APD analysis attached to the Sept. 2 report says the department had integrated 49 of 21CP's more than 50 recommendations as of August 2026. The changes APD lists include extending paid leave after a shooting from four days to seven.

The Assembly's Public Health and Safety Committee takes up that report at 11 a.m. Wednesday at City Hall, Room 155, with public testimony at the end. The meeting will be streamed.

No record reviewed here contains any account from McCord's family.