A police interview on a downtown Juneau sidewalk turned into a fatal confrontation in less than half an hour after a man armed with a large knife repeatedly refused officers’ commands, threatened them, and eventually charged toward law enforcement.
Retired Police Sergeant Christopher Curtis reviewed the July 15, 2024, body-camera footage on his Sergeant Curtis YouTube channel, describing the encounter as an extremely difficult crisis made even more dangerous by armed resistance, crowded surroundings, and bystanders who repeatedly moved into the officers’ working space.
The man, identified as 35-year-old Steven Kissack, was initially approached because police wanted his account of an earlier assault near the Marine View Apartments. By the end of the encounter, officers had fired less-lethal rounds, Kissack had rushed toward them with the knife, and two law enforcement officers had opened fire.
Police and emergency responders attempted to save him, but he was pronounced dead after being transported to a hospital.
Officer Approaches About an Earlier Assault
The footage began with an officer addressing Kissack by name and asking about a reported confrontation from the previous day.
Kissack was sitting near the sidewalk with his dog and holding a knife. The officer asked him to put it down, but Kissack refused and instead told the officer to back away.
Curtis immediately identified the weapon as the central danger in the encounter.
“This guy was asked to put a knife down, and he refuses to put a knife down,” Curtis said. “So, this can go a lot of different ways.”
Kissack explained that another man had stood over him, ordered him to move his belongings, and acted aggressively. He said he felt threatened and may have pushed the man, although he denied remembering a punch.
During the conversation, he also admitted having anger-management problems and described using physical force during the earlier confrontation.
The officer continued speaking with him while pedestrians passed only a short distance away. Curtis said many officers would have stopped the interview once the knife remained in Kissack’s hand, although he noted that the officer may have been trying to avoid escalating the situation while Kissack was seated.
Conversation Changes After Officer Mentions Charges
The tone shifted when the officer told Kissack that video footage appeared to show him as the aggressor and that assault charges would be filed.
Kissack rejected that conclusion and said he wanted charges brought against the other man.
Curtis questioned whether it might have been safer to delay telling Kissack that he would be charged until backup officers arrived. He suggested that a neutral conversation could have been used to gain time while additional units moved into position.
That was not presented as a claim that the officer caused what followed. Curtis repeatedly stressed that he was reviewing the encounter from a safe location with limited information and offering tactical ideas for future officers.
Still, the announcement appeared to sharpen Kissack’s anger.
He threatened to seriously hurt the other man if another confrontation occurred, then became increasingly hostile toward the officer.
“I don’t like the way you’re looking at me,” Kissack said as he stood and moved closer.
The officer responded by drawing his weapon, requesting emergency assistance, and repeatedly ordering him to drop the knife.
Repeated Commands Fail to End the Standoff
Once the emergency call went out, more Juneau police officers and an Alaska Wildlife Trooper began arriving.
The officers told Kissack that he was under arrest and ordered him dozens of times to place the knife on the ground.
He refused.
At different points, Kissack challenged the officers, insulted them, claimed they were afraid of him, and appeared to invite them to kill him.
“I’ll kill you,” he said during one part of the confrontation, before continuing to move around with the knife.
Curtis said officers sometimes encounter people who appear determined to create a deadly situation. No officer wants to make the final decision to use lethal force, he said, but a person holding an edged weapon and advancing toward officers creates a rapidly shrinking set of options.
The encounter also took place on a public downtown street, with residents walking past, watching, recording, and at times attempting to speak with Kissack.
That made the officers’ task much harder. They had to maintain distance from the knife while also watching the dog, nearby pedestrians, vehicles, and people who ignored instructions to move away.
Bystanders Step Into the Danger Zone
Several civilians attempted to intervene or remained close to the confrontation despite officers ordering them to clear the sidewalk.
Curtis referred to such people as third-party interveners. In rare cases, a trusted person may help negotiators reach someone in crisis, but he said that type of intervention must be planned and controlled.
Walking directly beside an armed and agitated person was not helpful.
“They make it so incredibly more difficult,” Curtis said.
One woman repeatedly approached Kissack and appeared to believe she could calm him. Officers warned her that she could be arrested for interfering and told her to cross the street.
Her presence forced officers to divide their attention between the knife threat and a civilian who could have been stabbed, taken hostage, or struck by gunfire.
Curtis said curious spectators should never stand near officers who have weapons drawn.
“This is not the way to behave as a sober, sane adult,” he said. “Get to a safe area.”
That commentary may sound blunt, but the footage supports the concern. Every person standing near Kissack became another body officers had to protect during a confrontation that could turn violent in seconds.
Officers Try a Less-Lethal Weapon
As the standoff continued, an officer arrived carrying a 40-millimeter launcher loaded with less-lethal impact rounds.
Curtis explained that the launcher can fire painful blunt projectiles and other less-lethal munitions designed to force an armed person to drop a weapon without being shot.
The officer clearly announced that he had the “40,” helping the other officers understand that the next shot they heard might not be lethal gunfire.
That communication was important because officers from different agencies had gathered at the scene. A loud impact round could otherwise have been mistaken for a firearm discharge, possibly triggering a confused response.
Police fired three less-lethal rounds that struck Kissack.
They did not cause him to surrender.
Kissack had also moved his backpack around to the front of his body, which Curtis described as a form of makeshift armor that could reduce the effectiveness of some less-lethal tools.
Curtis said Kissack’s extreme irritability, agitation, and speech patterns could have reflected mental illness, drug use, or a combination of both, although the footage alone could not establish a diagnosis.
Kissack Charges Toward Officers
The final moments came when Kissack, still holding the knife, suddenly advanced toward the officers.
The 40-millimeter operator fired and began retreating while trying to manage a launcher that required manual reloading. Kissack then changed direction and rushed toward him.
The officer dropped the empty launcher and tried to reach his firearm.
Other officers saw the threat and opened fire.
Body-camera footage captured officers shouting for Kissack to stop, move back, and drop the knife before the gunshots rang out.
Even after he fell, officers warned that the knife remained in his hand. They moved in, kicked it away, and immediately began emergency care.
Curtis called the situation a nightmare for the less-lethal officer, who was facing a man charging with a large knife while holding a weapon that could not instantly fire a second round.
“What he did was absolutely heroic,” Curtis said.
He described the perspective as chilling because the officer had to retreat while attempting to transition from a less-lethal launcher to a firearm, with almost no time available.
A Crisis With No Good Ending
Curtis said the officers had been trying to de-escalate, but he also offered suggestions about language that negotiators sometimes use in armed standoffs.
Instead of repeatedly emphasizing the word “knife,” an officer might say “put that thing down,” which can reduce some of the emotional power attached to the weapon.
He also suggested redirecting death-related statements rather than debating them, and possibly using Kissack’s concern for his dog as a way to slow him down.
For example, an officer might point out that the confrontation was frightening the animal and ask Kissack to help keep the dog safe.
Curtis was careful not to claim that any of those approaches would have changed the outcome.
The officers were dealing with a man who kept the knife, ignored repeated commands, issued threats, used his backpack as protection, and ultimately ran toward them.
It is possible to examine tactics while still recognizing who created the immediate danger.
Curtis Says the Shooting Shows Why Distance Matters
No officers or bystanders were injured during the confrontation.
Kissack’s death was later investigated by the Alaska Bureau of Investigation, with the case subject to independent review to determine whether the lethal force was legally justified.
Curtis ended his analysis by expressing concern for the officers who fired and for the advocates who work with people experiencing homelessness without placing themselves in the middle of active police confrontations.
He also said no one should want to see a person die under such circumstances.
The title of the video suggests Kissack brought about the fatal outcome through his own decisions, and the footage does show a long series of opportunities to put down the weapon. At the same time, the event involved a troubled man, a tense public setting, and officers forced to make decisions that would affect them long after the street was cleared.
What began as a conversation about an earlier assault lasted only about 27 minutes.
During that short period, Kissack moved from explaining his side of a dispute to threatening officers and charging with a knife, while police moved from conversation to emergency backup, less-lethal force, and finally gunfire.
The speed of that change is what makes the encounter so difficult to watch. There was time for many commands, but almost no room left for error once Kissack began running toward the officers.
A former park ranger and wildlife conservationist, Lisa’s passion for survival started with her deep connection to nature. Raised on a small farm in northern Wisconsin, she learned how to grow her own food, raise livestock, and live off the land. Lisa is our dedicated Second Amendment news writer and also focuses on homesteading, natural remedies, and survival strategies. Lisa aims to help others live more sustainably and prepare for the unexpected.
