Alaska Native Dustin “Dusty” Iworrigan, a 33-year-old male from Gambell on St. Lawrence Island, died on July 27, 2023, after being shot in his village late that evening. The first call to Alaska State Troopers came in around 9:50 p.m. and was initially described as a possible attempted suicide, drawing investigators across the Bering Sea coast to the remote community.
Hours later, the story that emerged was more precise and far more devastating: troopers determined that the gunfire that left the 33-year-old male gravely wounded had not been self-inflicted. He was ultimately recorded as lost to gun violence on that date in Gambell.
Investigators said the shooter was the victim's 16-year-old nephew, identified as Walker Ross of Gambell. After shooting his 33-year-old male uncle, the teenager shot himself in the abdomen and sought medical care without initially disclosing that his uncle had also been shot, according to accounts that summarized the troopers' dispatch. The Alaska State Troopers' Western Major Crimes Unit was sent to the island to take over the case, and both the 33-year-old male victim and the 16-year-old were airlifted to Anchorage for treatment because of the severity of their injuries.
Arrest paperwork followed swiftly. The 16-year-old was arrested and charged as an adult with attempted murder connected to the shooting of his 33-year-old male uncle, while he himself was listed as injured and in custody. Subsequent incident summaries cataloged the event as a fatal shooting paired with an attempted suicide, with the victim named as Dustin Iworrigan, age 33, and the suspect named as Walker Ross, age 16.
