The man who a Juneau police officer shot at on Tuesday night said he’s home safe, and wants to share his side of the story.
The street in the Mendenhall Valley where a Juneau police officer fired his gun on Feb. 22 is lined with trailer homes.
On Thursday afternoon, the man who police shot at was standing on his porch, having a cigarette. There’s a light post nearby with a sign warning to watch for children.
“Yeah, my name is Art Whitney, and I’m pissed,” he said.
Whitney was at the end of the driveway when police started shooting.
An eyewitness said she saw exactly where an officer had fired from that night — it’s about 250 feet away.
Whitney is a Navy veteran. He’s small and gaunt with a long beard. He said he recently got home after spending two nights at Bartlett Regional Hospital, where police took him after the shooting.
“Maybe I saw a shrink? But nah, I think they were all counselors,” he said. “Just talking. … ‘How do you feel?’-ing, about every hour, and blood testing. Normal routine, I guess.”
Whitney said the night of the shooting, he was shopping online, and realized he had fallen for some kind of scam and lost thousands of dollars. He said he was suicidal. Or, at least, acting suicidal.
“It was just a desperate plea for help,” he said.
Police said their initial contact was a call from a family member who said a man was threatening to harm himself. The family member also told police he had a gun at home.
Whitney said he gave his gun to his roommate and waited outside to meet the police. He said he was talking on the phone with his daughter when he heard shouting at the far end of the street. At first, he didn’t know they were police.
“And then they lit me up with their flashlights. And all of a sudden, I hear this guy shout, ‘He’s got a gun!’ Bang, bang, bang.”
He wasn’t hit, but police said two occupied trailers were. Police said one shot went into a bedroom window; someone got a minor cut on broken glass.
Whitney dropped to the ground, and the police cuffed him. Somewhere in the mix, he said he heard neighbors repeatedly shout that he did not have a gun.
According to Whitney, he wasn’t armed and wasn’t doing anything threatening, just talking on the phone.
“They got to tell me how in the hell they could tell if I had a gun from what, at least 100 yards away, dark? You know, c’mon! … I mean jeez, I couldn’t even see them. … So anyway, it’s not quite true, all of it,” he said.
He said police searched his room in the trailer he lives in.
“And here’s the weirdest part: I could get my gun back,” Whitney said. “I didn’t have to surrender my weapon. That’s the bottom line. I did not have to surrender my weapon.”
His phone, however, was taken as evidence.
Whitney said he feels safe now, and is working on getting some follow up counseling. He also learned after the shooting that he may be able to recover the money he lost through federal deposit insurance. He said he’s not sure if he’s in any legal trouble.
Oh, and Whitney said there’s at least one more thing the police got wrong. They said he was 65 years old. He won’t be 65 until July.
Meanwhile, as of Thursday night, the Juneau Police Department had not followed through on identifying the officer who shot at Whitney. Juneau Police Chief Ed Mercer had said on Wednesday that the officer’s name would be released by now.
If you’re in a crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
