AP Anchorage (Alaska)

Anchorage (Alaska)

Updated Tuesday, February 27, 2024-08:30

Two people were killed and two others seriously injured during a shooting at a home in a remote Iñupiat whaling village on

Alaska

's northwest coast , and a 16-year-old boy was in custody Monday, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

The episode shocked the small community of

Point Hope

and caused the local school to close on Monday.

The teenage suspect was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder, the newspaper said, citing court documents.

State law allows minors 16 years of age or older to be tried in adult courts on murder charges.

The newspaper based its report on a summary of a police report included in procedural documents filed Monday in court.

North Slope Borough

police officers

responded to the home at 11:30 p.m. Sunday and found a man and a woman dead, as well as two injured men, the newspaper said.

All four appeared to have been shot.

A witness said he had seen the boy enter the house and start shooting, the newspaper reported.

Another witness said he saw the young man leaving with a short weapon.

The minor

turned himself in at the local police station

accompanied by his father around 11:45 p.m. on Sunday, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

Alaska Governor

Mike Dunleavy

said he and his wife were devastated by the "tragic shooting."

"Our hearts ache for the families and neighbors affected by this senseless act," he wrote on Facebook.

"We will continue to pray for justice."

Point Hope, with about 675 residents, was built on a triangular piece of land surrounded by a huge inlet, the

Chukotka Sea

and the Arctic Ocean.

It is located about 1,126 kilometers (700 miles) northwest of Anchorage.

The peninsula that is home to Point Hope is one of the longest continuously inhabited areas of North America, and some of its first settlers crossed the Siberian land bridge about 2,000 years ago to hunt bowhead whales, according to the district website.

Russia is located about 322 kilometers (200 miles) west of Point Hope, across the Chukotka Sea.