By Rob Cone-Clark
Turnagain Times
Whittier Correspondent
Sunday, March 18 dawned clear and bright in Whittier. A break in the daily winds brought an opportunity for outdoor activities. Kids cooped up for far too long ran and played atop the mountains of concrete like snow. Dogs were off leashes as relaxed owners visited and lingered in the warmth of the spring sun.
But as the sun went down, and the wind kicked up, a veil of gloom fell over this cozy city by the sea, when at 10:30 p.m. in the Whittier Manor apartment complex, William (Wild Bill) Hampton lay dying in a pool of blood, shot in the chest with a 12-gauge shotgun.
Most of the facts leading up to the event are yet to be firmly established, and although the Alaska State Troopers have not released the identity of the man who shot Hampton, in a small isolated coastal community of 189 year-round residents, this information spreads quickly, and sources with firsthand knowledge of the incident told the Turnagain Times that the man who allegedly shot Hampton is Whittier resident Ray (Chief) Crain.
Neighbors on all sides reported hearing two men arguing. Directly below the apartment, a window was open and a man could be heard yelling out, “Put that [sh_t] down or I’m going to get my gun.” Neighbors called the police, and the disturbance was reported as a fight in progress. Whittier had one officer on duty, Fred Whittingham, a rookie in his first week without a regular back-up. Weeks before he had responded to a noise complaint at the same location.
Moments later, the building echoed with the blast of a shotgun. The downstairs neighbor said, “I heard Bam! I knew right away that it was a gunshot. I went into the hall to watch for anyone coming down the stairs.”
Another neighbor, hearing the commotion, also went into the hallway. He investigated and became aware that a shooting had occurred. He dialed the Whittier police, and Whittingham told him that he was just pulling up next to the building.
The man stepped outside and met the Whittier Officer.
“I told him that there were three to six people in an apartment upstairs and that someone had been shot,” the neighbor said. “He looked me in the face and never blinked. He drew his weapon and entered the building. I remember he walked up the stairs with his gun pointed down at his side. We got upstairs and everything was quiet, the apartment door was ajar. He raised his pistol, pushed open the door, stepped back and yelled ‘Whittier Police everybody down.’ He walked into the apartment pistol first yelling, ‘Get Down, Get Down, Get Down!’ I followed him in. There was a lot of blood. Three people were on the floor and there was a shotgun laying there. One guy never got down and was standing right over the shotgun. He was helped to the floor. There was blood and weapons and people. He (officer Whitting-ham) hasn’t been here very long and probably didn’t know everyone, but within seconds the place was secured and the victim was being tended to.”
An off-duty Small Boat Harbor employee entered the apartment after hearing a witness to the shooting call for anyone who knew CPR. “There was a lot of blood and a shotgun and a machete,” the employee said. “I ran back to my place and got a first-aid kit. The Officer came in and yelled for everyone to get down. He threw one guy to the floor and handcuffed him. I was just inside the doorway kneeling over Bill. There were some rags and I applied pressure. The EMT arrived and then Pat from the clinic. We carried him down to the Ambulance. I was asked to go in and I started squeezing an air bag to help him breath.
“Another off-duty Small Boat Harbor hand arrived and stood in the doorway. Gregg (the volunteer fire chief) gave me keys and told me to go help with the ambulance. The EMT, a volunteer fireman, and I got the ambulance going. We drove back up to the manor. We brought up oxygen and some big guaze pads.”
Whittier Medical Clinic Nurse Practitioner Pat Hoffstatter also responded. Not normally part of The City’s volunteer EMS, Pat received a call on her cell phone.
“When I got there it was clearly a severe injury,” she said. “He was in shock, lost a lot of blood and lots of non-medical people were around. It’s exhilarating that so many people made themselves available. There was lots of great communication. When I asked for something, there was a verbal acknowledgment by the person getting the item. We were kept apprised of the helicopters status and location. The guys applying direct pressure were heroic. Shannon Toleman was doing it when I arrived and then Joe Ball. They had to sandwich the man front and back with their hands. It was especially difficult when we were moving him. His injuries prevented him from forming a vacuum in his lungs. He stayed breathing that night because of the pressure on his chest. We put in an I.V. and administered oxygen. By the time we got to the staging area, the helicopter was ready. I hope this incident spurs more people to gain some response training.”
Gregg Hanson, the City’s Public Works Director and Volunteer Fire Chief, heard the initial 911 while monitoring his city radio. Because of manpower shortages, he had been appointed a volunteer reserve police officer. He arrived and assisted in coordinating rescue efforts and helped ensure scene safety.
“I would like to thank all the bystanders,” he said. He also described the efforts of a volunteer fireman who heard the EMS call on his fire radio and “of his own initiative, he went to the ambulance bay and helped get the doors open and the ambulance enroute. He then drove the fire response truck into the rail yard and helped organize a working barge crew.”
Alaska West shut down their freight handling activities and formed their massive forklifts into a landing pattern. They all pointed towards the center and ran their beacons and headlights. The Life Flight advanced life support helicopter landed and a medical team transferred Hampton aboard. He died enroute to Providence Medical Center.
Many questions still remain as to why Hampton was shot. And the most important question to be answered is whether it was in self-defense or not? The investigation is ongoing as troopers work to reconstruct the events leading up to this deadly evening in Whittier.