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Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Sept. 16) - A man died beside the Tatlawiksuk
River of a gunshot to the abdomen after getting into a drunken fight
with his brothers on a moose-hunting expedition, Alaska State
Troopers said Friday.
Glenn Demientieff, 32, was camping with his two brothers and a
family friend on Wednesday in western Alaska.
Troopers said Demientieff and his brothers, Dennis, 31, and
Michael, 22, all of Kasigluk, were drinking and fighting when Glenn
was shot.
Charges have not been filed, although officials have a suspect,
said Trooper spokesman Greg Wilkinson.
Zacharias Nicholas, who grew up with the three brothers and
accompanied them on the trip, told the Anchorage Daily News he
recalls grabbing a gun away from the youngest brother, Michael,
directly after the shooting.
Michael Demientieff was booked into Yukon-Kuskokwim Correctional
Center on charges unrelated to this week's shooting episode,
Wilkinson said.
Nicholas said he was the only sober person at the campsite the
night of the shooting and tried to break up the fight.
"It all happened so fast. They were all drinking," Nicholas said.
"They kind of started early, I think."
Nicholas said Glenn started beating up his younger brothers.
"Glenn started fighting Dennis ... slapping him with an open fist
for no reason," he said.
Michael was passed out in a tent, Nicholas said, and Glenn
dragged him out and kicked him in the head.
"Then he concentrated on Dennis, wrestling or slapping him
around," Nicholas said. "Glenn pulled Michael out of the tent again
and kicked him on the head again. ... Next thing I heard was a
gunshot. I ran to Michael and grabbed the gun away from Michael. And
Glenn was on the ground."
Nicholas said that he helped the brothers load Glenn into their
boat to take him to the nearby village of Stony River.
"I was too late," Nicholas said. "He quit breathing."
The men hauled the body to Sleetmute on Thursday and notified
troopers about what happened. Troopers met the group in Aniak, a hub
village in the region, later that night.
Reached at his home in Kasigluk, Dennis Demientieff said he
looked up to his older brother.
"He was just a leader. A leader of our brothers," he said.
He referred questions about the shooting to Nicholas.
"I just finally got home today, and I don't feel like talking
about it," he said.
Information from: Anchorage Daily News
