Samoan woman charged with murder and assault after shooting in Alaska

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA —A 31-year-old Samoan woman in Anchorage is facing murder charges after a shooting that occurred on Friday, Aug. 11 on a street in Anchorage, Alaska that left one person dead and another with serious injuries.

A video recorded by a witness indicated that Juliana Tauamo Khatthamane and Marliana Popoali’i Ifopo, physically fought each other before Khatthamane shot multiple times at Ifopo, killing her, and shooting her husband, who had accompanied Ifopo, according to the court documents.

Khatthamane was arrested Friday on charges of first and second degree murder and first degree assault, and remains in custody at the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center in Eagle River, Alaska. 

The Anchorage Police Department received multiple calls just before 4 p.m. Friday from people who reported hearing nine or 10 gunshots in the area of Thompson Avenue and Schodde Street, according to court documents signed by an Anchorage police detective.

When police arrived at the scene, they found the two victims with multiple gunshot wounds on their upper bodies. Officers and the victim’s family members attempted life-saving measures and Anchorage Fire Department medics took the two victims to the hospital, where the woman was declared dead and the man was taken into surgery.

Court documents revealed that people who told police they had witnessed the shooting identified Khatthamane as the suspect. One witness showed police a video they had taken on their cell phone, which showed someone who police believe to be Khatthamane fighting with the woman before Khatthamane fired a handgun several times at her and the man with her.

The court filings also revealed that multiple children were nearby at the time of the shooting.