It was a fairly average Wednesday morning in the 500 block of E. 74th Ave when the father of 27-year-old Desiree Leandra Gonzalez noticed something awry.
Sgt. Couturier: “It was the routine to drop the children off in the morning with Grandma and Grandpa and then Grandma would drop them off at the babysitters and move on with her day. That didn’t happen.”
Sgt. Mike Couturier with the Anchorage Police Department said Gonzalez’ father climbed through a window of the family’s four-plex unit where he found his daughter, her 24-year-old boyfriend Curtis Young III and their two children all deceased with gunshot wounds. The children, Zaiden and Zarielle Young, were aged just 4 and 17 months.
Sgt. Couturier: “This was a very catastrophic scene with a very number one priority label on it.”
Detectives currently believe this was an isolated domestic violence-related incident and are not looking for a suspect.
Neighbors reported hearing shots fired at 1:37am and 4am, but Sgt. Couturier said witnesses can often be confused when woken during the early hours.
Police were on scene until 3:45am this morning. The Sgt. was reluctant to divulge information about the case which is still being processed.
Asked if the public should be concerned about their own safety, spokeswoman Anita Shell said the deaths appeared to be an isolated incident. Anyone with information is asked to call Anchorage Police at 786-8900.
