Copyright Anchorage Daily News
A man was shot and killed Saturday morning during a parking lot altercation between parents of young soccer players at a South Anchorage sports complex, charges say. Multiple children and families participating in a youth soccer league were in the area where the shooting occurred outside the Fox Hollow Golf Course & Sports Dome on Brayton Drive, according to an informational document filed with murder charges. Luke Charles Simonson, 36, is facing charges of first- and second-degree murder as well as third-degree assault, according to the initial charging document filed in Anchorage District Court on Sunday. The Anchorage Police Department had not released the names of either the 45-year-old man who was fatally shot nor the accused shooter as of Monday morning. The document indicates the incident started when a young soccer player’s mother yelled at Simonson for nearly hitting the child with his pickup truck and the boy’s father came over to confront him about it. Anchorage police began getting numerous 911 calls regarding a shooting in the Fox Hollow parking lot around 11:45 a.m. Saturday, according to a police report summary signed by Assistant District Attorney Rachel Gernat. An off-duty police officer in the parking lot heard gunshots and ran toward a 2025 Chevrolet Silverado where the shooting occurred, the summary said. The off-duty officer saw Simonson holding a handgun and the man who was shot lying in front of the truck with multiple gunshot wounds, it said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Witnesses, who included the man’s children and his wife, told police that the shooting occurred after the man approached Simonson for nearly hitting one of the boys, the document said. The man’s wife described Simonson as “looking for a fight,” according to the summary. One boy said he was almost hit and then heard his father yelling at the truck, the summary said. Another said he saw his father confront the driver and heard at least four gunshots, it said. Dashboard camera video provided to police by someone in the parking lot shows the man walking around the front of Simonson’s pickup, according to the informational document. As the man gets to the front driver’s side, Simonson can be seen getting out with his gun drawn and “immediately” shoots the other man, the document said. The video shows the other man turning away from Simonson, the summary said. Another witness said it didn’t look like the truck got that close to the child, the summary said. That witness also said he didn’t hear Simonson give any warning or command before shooting, it said. Officers arriving at the scene took Simonson into custody. He later told them he was waiting in the truck for his wife and young daughter to come out after soccer, the summary said. He said he keeps a handgun in the console of his pickup and puts it “on his person” every time he gets back into the truck, it said. As the family pulled out of the parking lot, Simonson told police, he heard a woman say “he almost hit her kid,” according to the summary signed by Gernat. He also heard the child’s father yelling, and then the father came around the front of the truck, the summary said. Simonson told police he pointed the gun at the other man and the two men began arguing, the document said. Simonson told police the other man “kept coming at him” and he felt threatened, though he never saw a weapon on the other man, the summary said. He fired and then fired again, the document said. The man’s wife came around the front of the truck and he told her to put her hands up, which she did, backing away from Simonson and her husband’s body, the summary said. Anchorage police did not immediately respond to a request for more information Monday morning.
