UPDATE AS OF 12:15 p.m.:
According to Homer Police Chief Mark Robl, Herrick was taken to the Homer Jail and booked at about 9:10 a.m. and transported to Wildwood Pretrial Facility in Kenai at about 11:20 a.m. He will be arraigned at the Kenai Courthouse.
UPDATE AS OF 11:00 a.m.:
In a press release at about 11 a.m. Tuesday, troopers added more details about the shooting. At about 1 p.m. Monday, an Anchor Point trooper saw Herrick at a downtown business. The trooper knew Herrick had multiple warrants for his arrest. The trooper contacted Herrick and attempted to arrest him. Troopers said Herrick pulled a handgun and fired at the trooper, hitting him multiple times. The trooper also discharged his service weapon. As another trooper responded, Herrick fled the area on foot.
Local law enforcement, Alaska Department of Public Safety aircraft, and troopers with the Special Emergency Reaction Team, or SERT, went to Anchor Point to search for Herrick. The search went on through the day and into Monday evening and early Tuesday morning. At about 8:40 a.m. Tuesday, SERT members following up on a tip found Herrick near his Anchor Point home. Troopers arrested Herrick without incident.
The trooper, who was assigned to Anchor Point when shot Monday, was said to still be in “fair condition” after being airlifted to Anchorage from a local hospital, according to an 11 a.m. update from an Alaska State Troopers dispatch on Tuesday.
ORIGINAL POST:
Alaska State Troopers arrested 60-year-old Bret Herrick, of Anchor Point, in a residence around 8:40 a.m. Tuesday morning, according to an Alaska State Troopers dispatch. Herrick was wanted in connection with the shooting of a state trooper in Anchor Point around 1 p.m. Monday.
The dispatch said the investigation into Monday’s incident will continue and an increased law enforcement presence in Anchor Point is to be expected.
The trooper, who was assigned to Anchor Point when shot Monday, was said to be in “fair condition” after being airlifted to Anchorage from a local hospital, according to a 5 p.m. update from an Alaska State Troopers dispatch. Austin McDaniel, acting communications director of the Alaska State Troopers, said Tuesday morning in a phone call that a status report on the trooper has not been received, but he is expected to still be in fair condition and being treated at an Anchorage hospital.
“There were no other injuries of anybody not directly involved in this incident known to troopers at this time,” McDaniel said.
Troopers arrested Herrick on four outstanding warrants, McDaniel said. He said additional charges are anticipated related to Monday’s events.
According to court records, Herrick had warrants for failure to appear in court related to an October 2020 charge of disorderly conduct, March and July 2021 charges of violating conditions of release, an April charge of reckless endangerment and a July charge of resisting arrest.
McDaniel said he did not know where Herrick was being held on Tuesday morning.
An alert from the Kenai Peninsula Borough Office of Emergency Management stated the shelter in place advisory has been lifted for the area. Chapman School will remain closed for the day, which was announced around 7:30 a.m. before Herrick was apprehended.
Herrick was considered armed and dangerous, according to Monday’s trooper dispatch, and people were asked to avoid the Anchor Point area near Mile 156.5 of the Sterling Highway.
Herrick has a criminal history dating back to at least 2004 on the Kenai Peninsula. Most were minor charges including fourth-degree assault and unlawful conduct.
In August 2012, prosecutors charged Herrick with kidnapping, armed assault, robbery and burglary after troopers said he forced at gun point a man into his truck, drove him to a Homer bank and made him withdraw money from an ATM. Connected to that case, troopers arrested Herrick in December 2012. That encounter led to a scuffle in which Herrick assaulted troopers, according to troopers.
When the kidnapping and other charges went to trial in May of 2013, prosecutors couldn’t locate a key witness, the alleged victim, because the fishing boat he crewed on was caught in an ice flow in the Bering Sea. In a plea agreement, Herrick pleaded guilty to resisting arrest and two charges of fourth-degree assault. The more serious charges were dismissed.
In another case, Homer Police arrested Herrick in September 2015 on a charge of second-degree terroristic threatening. In charging documents, police said witnesses described Herrick as dressing like a pirate and acting strangely at the Homer Ferry Terminal. He also carried a foot-long knife in a sheath partially visible underneath a leather jacket, according to police. Police said Herrick told one woman “We’re all going to die.” Police said Herrick acted agitated, belligerent and violent. Prosecutors later dismissed that charge. Harrick’s defense attorney said at the time that the case came down to the First Amendment giving wide latitude for freedom of speech.
“Bret may have been saying things that might have been odd. He’s an odd character. Homer’s full of odd characters,” the defense lawyer said then.
Reach reporters Ashlyn O’Hara, Michael Armstrong and Sarah Knapp at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com, marmstrong@homernews.com and sarah.knapp@homernews.com.
Correction: This story was updated to state that Herrick was taken to the Homer Jail and transported to Wildwood Pretrial Facility at 9:10 a.m. and 11:20 a.m., respectively.
Alaska State Troopers and members of the Special Emergency Reaction Team respond at a shooting scene on Monday, Aug. 23, 2021, at the Anchor Point Warehouse in Anchor Point, Alaska, on the Sterling Highway. An Alaska State Trooper was shot and is in fair condition at an Anchorage hospital. Troopers arrested the suspect, Bret Herrick, 60, on Tuesday morning, Aug. 24, 2021. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
