Troopers arrest Shungnak man after shooting puts the village on lockdown

Alaska State Troopers arrested a 23-year-old Shungnak man Sunday on charges of first-degree assault and misconduct involving a weapon after a shooting that put the Northwest Arctic village on lockdown.

He is accused of shooting a man, whose injuries troopers described as not life-threatening.

The village clinic called troopers at 4:50 am Sunday to report the shooting, according to the trooper dispatch. Shungnak was reported to be on lockdown while the suspect's whereabouts were unknown and the victim waited to be flown out for care.

Troopers traveled to Shungnak, found the man in a wooded area and arrested him without incident. He is being held at Kotzebue Regional Jail.

Troopers said the investigation is ongoing. The dispatch did not say what led to the shooting or name the victim. Charges are accusations, and the man is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Shungnak, whose Alaska Native name is Issingnak, is a Kobuk River village of 269 people in the Northwest Arctic Borough, according to the borough's 2026 Energy and Climate Action Plan. It has a state-owned gravel runway, and barges can reach it only seasonally, or not at all, depending on river levels, the plan says.