Mar. 28, 2024 5:01 AM
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Alleyn/1970
Schaffer/1969
Shea/1962
Mynatt/1968
Bryant/1968
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Dan R. Seely
- Oct. 26, 1996 -
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(327)
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Resided: |
AK, USA
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Born: | Nov. 11, 1955 |
Fallen: | Oct. 26, 1996 |
Race/Sex: | Caucasian Male / 40 yrs. of age |
| Agency |
Dept: | Anchorage Police Dept.
4501 Elmore Rd Anchorage, AK
99507 USA (907)786-8500 |
County: | Anchorage |
Dept. Type: | Municipal/Police |
Hero's Rank: | Patrolman |
Sworn Date: | 5/1986 |
FBI Class: | Homicide - Gun |
Weapon Class: | Firearm |
Agency URL: | Click Here
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Badge: | 803 |
On The Job: |
10 years
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Bio: Dan R. Seely, 40, was born on Nov. 11, 1955, in Fruita, CO, to Norman Richard and Dixie Cottrell Seely. He was the second of four children (Sheree, Dan, Lorraine and David).
His father's family could trace its roots back to the Mormon settlement of Utah by Brigham Young. However, as a youth Dan lived in several states as his Dad worked "around the country with his job." As a result Dan attended several schools in several states and graduated from high school in NC. His family later moved to Fairbanks, AK, and Dan moved there after high school and worked for a vending company while he saved money for his Mormon mission.
Dan graduated from Brigham Young University in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in Science. Prior to graduation he served a 2-year mission in ID, WA, and OR as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. After graduating from college Seely moved to Anchorage and worked for Northern Air Cargo while serving as a reserve with the Anchorage Police Dept.
On Oct. 28, 1995, Dan Seely, 39, married Deborah Walters, 33, of Anchorage. They had met thru mutual friends while Dan worked out at the police gym. Deborah had lived in AK for 30 years having moved to the state at the age of 3. She was pregnant with their first child at the time of her husband's death. Grant Daniel Seely was born on May 7, 1997.
Seely joined the Anchorage Police Dept. on May 5, 1986, and was a 10-year veteran of the force at the time of his death. In 1985 he had served as a reserve (volunteer) officer with the APD. His graduation from the police academy in 1986 "was the realization of a lifelong dream" to be a police officer. At one point Seely trained new officers and was trained as a hostage negotiator. He was selected as the Officer of the Quarter in June of 1996.
Seely was known as a "gung-ho cop with solid street smarts" who, though soft-spoken, "gravitated toward action." However, he was also known for his compassion and generousity and often used his own money to assist people getting a bed or a meal during cold winter nights.
Seely was twice injured on the job. In 1990 he was kicked in the knee with a steel-toed boot by someone he was trying to arrest. That injury forced him to spend a year on "desk duty" while he recuperated. In 1985, while still on the reserve force, he was seriously injured when two police cars collided on a city street. |
Survived by: |
Debbie Walters Seely - Wife
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and unborn first child; his parents, Richard and Dixie Seely of Price, UT; his brother, David Seely of CO; his sisters, Sheree Seely Gilley of FL and Lorraine Seely Martin of CO; his grandfather, Lorin Milton, and by five nieces and nephews.
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Fatal Incident Summary
Offender: |
Paul Ely, Jr.
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Location: |
Anchorage,
AK
USA
Sat. Oct. 26, 1996
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Summary: |
Anchorage Officer Dan Seely, 40, was shot and killed while trying to serve a warrant on an abusive husband on Oct. 26, 1996. The husband then shot and killed his two young children and wounded his wife before turning the gun on himself and committing suicide.
Around 10:45AM on Saturday, Oct. 26, 1996, Anchorage Police Officers Kurt Kornchuk and Dan Seely were dispatched to serve an arrest warrant on Paul Ely, Jr., 28, for violation of his probation (i.e., failure to attend anger management training). Ely and his wife, Christina Ely, 27, had a "troubled" 9-year marriage and were in the process of a divorce after a considerable history of calls to police and court hearings concerning his physical abuse of Christina.
On March 31 Ely had kicked his wife in the head (leaving her temporarily unable to speak and chipping her cheekbone) and threatened her with a gun. He was convicted of misdemeanor assault by a jury and sentenced by District Court Judge Stephanie Rhoades to 20 days in jail, a $500 fine, and compelled to attend anger management counseling. However, he was not required to give up his firearms while on probation for this assault.
When Ely didn't go to the mandated counseling by August, Judge Rhoades signed a warrant for his arrest. Unfortunately, the warrant was not served until Oct. 26 since there were only seven officers in the warrant unit and more than 10,000 warrants awaiting service. Furthermore, warrants received a low priority (to restraining orders, subpoenas, etc.).
However, Eagle River Officer Joe Caswell, who knew Christina Ely, attempted several times to serve the warrant as he believed Paul Ely to be dangerous and a real threat to his wife. He was also concerned for the safety of the children as Ely had reportedly asked his children several times, "Would you like to go to heaven with Daddy?" Caswell made several attempts to locate Ely who was out of work and difficult to find and had been to Christina's residence (actually the home of her mother where she lived) the day before the Seely murder as Ely was scheduled to pick up his children on that day. Ely showed up unannounced the next day but Officer Caswell was off duty.
Shortly before 10:45AM, Christina Ely's mother called police from a cordless phone outside of her house to report that Paul Ely had arrived at the house and she wanted someone to come and arrest him on the outstanding warrant. Around 10:45AM Officer Kurt Kornchuk was dispatched to contact a woman (Christina's mother) outside the Ely residence at 18111 Birchwood Loop Road (just north of Chugiak H.S. in the Birchwood area) with Officer Seely designated as his backup.
However, Seely (the backup) arrived at the scene about one minute before Kornchuk and met Christina's mother in the driveway outside the residence. She told Seely that Paul Ely was in the house and the officer then approached the house. Ely, seeing the officer enter the house, likely realized that the officer was there to arrest him, and ran toward the rear of the house. Officer Seely used his portable radio to call in and report that Ely was running from him toward the rear of the house. Officer Seely did not know that Ely had a handgun hidden in a shoulder holster under his coat. When Seely entered a rear bedroom, Ely turned and fired, hitting the officer "in the face." Seely fell into the hallway fatally wounded.
Before Paul Ely shot Seely, Christina, with her two children, Jessica, 5, and Corey, 4, had "taken refuge" next door at a neighbor's house "to avoid a scene." After shooting Seely, Ely walked quickly toward the neighbor's house (where his wife was) and saw his mother-in-law. He fired one shot at her as he walked toward the neighbor's house. He then forced his way inside telling the man who lived there, "We're going to end this once and for all."
Ely then ran upstairs to a living room where his wife, the two children, and a neighbor woman were hiding. He immediately shot his daughter, Jessica, in the head with his .44-caliber handgun with the bullet passing through her and hitting Christina in the stomach. Ely then shot his son, Corey, in the head as the neighbor woman tried to shield him from the irate father. Ely then shot himself in the head. Meanwhile Officer Kornchuk arrived and heard a gunshot (probably the shot Ely took at the mother-in-law as he went next door after shooting Seely). He took cover near Seely's patrol car and heard more shots (probably Ely shooting his wife and kids). Christina's mother ran to the officer and told him that Officer Seely was inside the Ely residence. He went inside the residence, found Seely wounded on the floor, and began CPR.
Christina, though wounded, was able to make her way back to her mother's residence (where she had been living) where Officer Kornchuk "was desperately trying to keep Seely alive." Kornchuk's police radio would not work (it was in a "dead zone") but the cordless phone was used to call for ambulances and additional officers. Ambulances soon arrived and took Seely and Christina Ely to local hospitals. Christina survived and was released from the hospital five days later. Both Jessica and Corey were dead at the scene.
Dan Seely died at Providence Alaska Medical Center shortly after noon (an hour after he was shot). His wife, Deborah, who worked as a police dispatcher, heard the events of Oct. 26 unfold on police radios and rushed to the hospital to the side of her husband before his death.
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Disposition: |
committed suicide at the scene, after killing Officer Seely, his two children, and seriously wounding his wife |
Source: |
Book Excerpted in part or in whole from Dr. Wilbanks book-
FORGOTTEN HEROES: POLICE OFFICERS KILLED IN ALASKA, 1867-1998
By Dr. Wm. Wilbanks FL International University
To be published by Turner Publications in early 1999
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Last Updated: May. 29, 2019 |
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