On July 17, 1986, Patrol Officer Harry Biddington Hanson Jr., a 41-year-old K-9 officer with the Anchorage Police Department, was killed while pursuing a suspect after a violent traffic stop. The sequence began when a gunman fired on Officer Cindy Mittasch, stole her patrol car, crashed it into a cinderblock wall, and fled on foot. Hanson left his dog Baron in his cruiser and joined another K-9 team to track the suspect through spruce and shadowed lots. As officers closed on a hiding place beneath a large spruce, the suspect opened fire; Hanson was struck in the neck and later died at the hospital.

The shooter, identified as 27-year-old William A. Weitz, was wounded, handcuffed at the scene, and later indicted on multiple counts including first-degree murder. Hanson had served eight years with the department, six in the K-9 unit, and left behind a wife and five children; he was buried at Fort Richardson National Cemetery.

Did anyone in Anchorage at the time witness the pursuit or the crash that morning?