On March 1, 1983, six residents of McCarthy, Alaska, were killed in a mass shooting that devastated the tiny, remote community. Among the dead was 61-year-old Harley Bain King, a World War II U.S. Army veteran who lived with his wife Jo in a cabin near Long Lake in the Wrangell Mountains. King was known locally as a hunter, big-game hunting guide, pilot, and commercial fisherman.

King had driven into McCarthy by snowmobile that morning with a friend, joining others who were waiting for the weekly mail plane. The victims were attacked by Louis D. Hastings, who used a .223-caliber Ruger Mini-14 and also wounded two people. Hastings told investigators he intended to hijack the mail plane and use it to reach the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, where he planned to cause damage to halt Alaska’s economic growth and preserve wilderness. Survivors alerted authorities and Hastings was arrested while attempting to flee on a snowmobile.

Does anyone have memories of Harley King, his family, or life in McCarthy around 1983 that could add to the community’s record?