On the night of August 28, 2010, in Hoonah, Officer Matthew Dean Tokuoka, an Alaska Native man age 39, was killed after a concealed gunman opened fire along Front Street. Tokuoka had stopped with his family to talk with on-duty Sergeant Anthony Tony Wallace when the shooter struck Wallace in the leg and chest; Tokuoka, off duty, moved to help and was shot as he rushed to render aid. Tokuoka was taken to the local clinic and died in the early hours that followed; Wallace later died during surgery in Juneau.

The shooter fled to a home and barricaded himself. Troopers and Juneau officers surrounded the residence, a SWAT team arrived by boat, and after nearly a day the suspect, identified as 45-year-old Hoonah resident John N. Marvin Jr., surrendered and was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Tokuoka had served the Hoonah Police Department about a year and was a former U.S. Marine. Did anyone in Hoonah or nearby communities witness that late-summer ambush or have information about the events leading up to it?