ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Anchorage police say a man shot and killed after wounding an Anchorage police officer was solely responsible for five homicides, including two double murders, which caused fear in Alaska’s largest city last year.
Police in a release Wednesday linked James Dale Ritchie to the five deaths that all occurred outdoors in 2016 and caused alarm among people using the trail systems that a serial killer was on the loose.
Ritchie was shot and killed by police in November after he wounded an officer. Anchorage police later linked Ritchie’s gun to the five homicides but didn’t connect him personally to the shootings until Wednesday.
Police say detectives established sufficient probable cause to conclude Ritchie was responsible for the five deaths, and he acted alone. Their investigation has now been closed.
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