Early Saturday morning two men suspected of burglarizing a home shot at the police when they were approached for questioning and then fled to the base of Hilltop Ski Area outside Anchorage, Alaska according to adn.com.
“The suspect vehicle ended up down by Hilltop, they got out and fled on foot.” -Anchorage Police Department spokeswoman Jennifer Castro
Hilltop Ski Area manager Steve Remme got word of the burglary and called police dispatch to advise:
“They told us to gather up our employees and go into a lockdown mode.”
The resort had just opened so on police order, Remme rounded up his staff members and the one or two customers that were already skiing and gathered them in the main chalet. It was then that a man walked inside and asked if he could call a cab. He was told no and that the ski area was in lockdown but he remained inside and wasn’t acting suspicious.
Another man was seen wandering around the chalet with only one shoe on, which was very suspicious due to the frigid temperatures. He eventually came inside and explained that he’d been involved in a rollover accident. The two men didn’t interact with each other but Remme kept his eye on them.
“It wasn’t clear who of the roughly 20 people inside the chalet was a customer and who might be a suspect. But the two men didn’t quite fit in with the ski crowd, Remme said — one was wearing sweatpants and the other camouflage pants.”
Staff members were in communication with the police during the lockdown and let them know there was “someone of interest … in the building.”
Police eventually showed up and surrounded the area, weapons drawn and entered SWAT team style to arrest the two men. Hats off to Remme and his crew at Hilltop for handling the situation professionally and getting everyone out of there safely.
[images from alaskajournal.com, adn.com & hilltopskiarea.org]
