Anchorage’s mayor and police chief promised a series of investigations and reforms Thursday as the situation surrounding the police shooting of a 16-year-old girl earlier this week becomes increasingly critical and disturbing.

“We are here today on what should have been the last day of summer vacation for a 16-year-old before her penultimate year of school,” Mayor Suzanne LaFrance said Thursday during a press conference at police headquarters. “As a community member, as a mayor, as a mother of a 16-year-old, I am deeply saddened that we have lost such a young life in our community.”

“To Easter Leafa’s family, I am so incredibly sorry for your loss,” LaFrance said. “This young woman deserved to be safe in our community and you deserved so much more time with her.”

The promises also include a third-party investigation into the causes of the record number of killings of citizens by police in Anchorage – a escalating crisis that culminated Tuesday night when Leafa was killed in her family’s East Anchorage apartment.

Police were called to the apartment because of a domestic dispute, Police Chief Sean Case said. Police said Leafa had a knife in his hand and did not comply with commands to drop it. An officer who responded to the call shot Leafa while another fired non-lethal ammunition, Case said.

Leafa had recently moved to Alaska from American Samoa and did not yet speak English well, her family said. She was the sixth person shot by Anchorage police since May and the fourth to be killed.

At Thursday’s press conference, Case acknowledged that the number of recent police shootings is “well above the average we normally see in Anchorage.”

“I know many community members are concerned,” he said. “As are we.”

“We need to find out what’s going on,” LaFrance said Thursday. “These investigations are about getting a clear understanding of the facts and finding a path forward for the department and the entire community.”

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Reforms announced on Thursday include:

• Instead of the Police Department’s usual internal investigation, an outside investigator will look into the Aug. 13 shooting of Leafa. The state Office of Special Prosecutions will continue to oversee the investigation into whether charges should be filed against the officers involved in the incident.

• An outside group will review the Anchorage Police Department’s policies and produce a report on how the department can reduce the number of police shootings. The city attorney’s office will be responsible for selecting a third party to oversee the investigation, which will go beyond what sworn police officers are legally allowed to do, as is the case with internal investigations and courts, the announcement said. The report will be public.

• The police department will establish a Citizens Advisory Council that will “give the public a formal role in advising APD.” It is not yet clear what powers the Citizens Advisory Council will have, who will serve on it and how members will be selected. Amanda Moser, communications director for the administration, said information on the task force will be announced soon.

• A police lieutenant has begun investigating the shootings of police officers in Anchorage over the past 15 years. Case said the project began shortly after he became police chief in July. In a typical year, there are an average of three shootings involving officers in Anchorage, according to Case. Although the investigation is ongoing, Case said the department plans to implement changes based on its initial analysis. A later report will be released.

“I know there is a lot of pain and anger right now and a lot of work to be done to make sure everyone in our community feels safe,” LaFrance said at the press conference. “To do that, we need to work with community members, especially members of the BIPOC community, because these shootings disproportionately affect people of color.”

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As news of Leafa’s death spread, questions about the circumstances of the shooting and concerns about the number of police shootings grew Thursday. Several protests, marches and vigils are planned for Thursday.

A vigil for Leafa, organized by the Polynesian Association of Alaska, will take place between G and H streets on the Delaney Park Strip at 1 p.m. Friday. The Party for Socialism and Liberation Anchorage is also planning a protest at 6 p.m. Friday at 632 W. Sixth Ave.

Several Samoan community groups will hold an Easter march at 11 a.m. Saturday, starting at police headquarters and ending at Town Square Park. Samoans in Anchorage are devastated by the death, said Maddy Unutoa, a community leader and one of the event’s organizers.

“We want to call the police. We want to ask them for help,” she said. People don’t want to call the police and feel like they’re risking another fatal incident, she said.

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