Police say a woman was killed after being shot by an officer during a June standoff at an East Anchorage home

By Tess Williams

Updated: 23 seconds ago Published: 24 seconds ago

Wednesday afternoon (June 19, 2024) a confrontation between an armed woman and an unarmed neighbor in East Anchorage led to a standoff with police at the woman’s home in the 7400 block of East 20th Avenue, a shooting involving the woman and a SWAT officer, and the woman was killed, the police department said. Photo taken June 20, 2024. (Tess Williams / Anchorage Daily News)

Police said Monday that a woman was found dead after a standoff at her East Anchorage home last month after she was shot by a SWAT officer who fired shots during the standoff.

The department had not previously released the cause of death of 58-year-old Lisa Fordyce-Blair on June 20.

An autopsy was completed last week, and on Monday, police spokeswoman Renee Oistad said in an email that Fordyce-Blair died from being struck in the upper body by gunfire from officers.

Police said officers initially arrived at Fordyce-Blair’s home in the 7400 block of East 20th Avenue because she had threatened a neighbor. Fordyce-Blair refused to come out of the home when officers arrived, prompting a SWAT response, they said.

Fordyce-Blair fired multiple shots from inside the home, and Sergeant Jonathan Butler fired shots from outside the home, police said. She was dead when officers entered the home, according to police.

Fordyce-Blair is the fourth person shot by police in about five weeks. Two men have been killed and one wounded in three separate encounters.

The SWAT officers who responded to Fordyce-Blair’s home were not wearing body-worn cameras, officials said. The department has not equipped the tactical team with cameras because they do not fit properly with its bulkier uniforms.