On the night of May 24, 2020, in Anchorage, Alaska, 19‑year‑old Andrew Alston, a male of unspecified ethnicity, was fatally shot in a harrowing sequence of events that began as a neighborhood dispute. Earlier that day, a dog belonging to one of Alston's friends scratched the hand of a neighbor's wife, prompting a police response. That minor incident ignited simmering tensions that would tragically escalate later that evening .
As darkness fell, Andrew Alston, a 19‑year‑old male, and his friend Luis Ross‑Rivera, age 21 at the time, were returning home when their neighbor, 26‑year‑old David Dumpson, a male whose ethnicity is not specified, confronted them with hateful, homophobic slurs . The confrontation grew physical between Dumpson and Ross‑Rivera, and in a sudden, brutal turn, Dumpson produced a firearm. He shot Luis Ross‑Rivera in the head. As Andrew Alston, the 19‑year‑old male, rushed to assist his friend, Dumpson fired three times, striking Andrew. The violence did not end there: Dumpson then walked away, only to return and deliver a final shot to Andrew Alston's head .
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Anchorage police responded to a call at approximately 1:11 AM on May 24, 2020, to a residence in the 300‑block of Irwin Street. Officers and medics arrived to find one adult male victim declared deceased at the scene—later identified as 19‑year‑old Andrew Alston. Another adult male, Luis Ross‑Rivera, suffered life‑threatening injuries and was transported to the hospital. A female victim present at the scene sustained non‑life‑threatening, non‑gunshot related injuries. Detectives swiftly identified the shooter and his location, prompting an officer from the Impaired Driving Enforcement Unit to intercept the suspect's vehicle on 5th Avenue. The male suspect, accompanied by a female, was detained without incident, questioned by detectives, arrested and remanded to the Anchorage Jail on multiple charges: Murder in the First Degree, Murder in the Second Degree, Attempted Murder, and Assault in the First Degree .
The suspect was confirmed to be 26‑year‑old David Dumpson, a male neighbor of Andrew Alston's . Over the next few years, the case proceeded through the justice system. In early September 2024, an Anchorage jury found 30‑year‑old David Dumpson guilty on charges including first‑degree murder, second‑degree murder, attempted murder, and first‑degree assault in relation to the killing of 19‑year‑old Andrew Alston and the attempted murder of 25‑year‑old Luis Ross‑Rivera .
The final chapter in the legal saga concluded on May 13, 2025, when Superior Court Judge Peter Ramgren sentenced 31‑year‑old David Dumpson to a staggering 95 years, with 20 years suspended—resulting in 75 years of active incarceration. The sentencing was specifically for the murder of 20‑year‑old Andrew Alston and the attempted murder of 21‑year‑old Luis Ross‑Rivera. The trial revealed the sequence of provocation and violence: the earlier dog incident, the hateful slurs, the physical altercation, and the cruel, repeated shootings .
Thus unfolds the tragic story of 19-year-old Andrew Alston, a young male whose life was extinguished in an act of neighborly violence fueled by bigotry and brutality. From the initial confrontation over a dog scratch, to the fateful nightfall when he was trying to help a wounded friend, his loss reverberated through his community and ultimately led to the conviction and severe sentencing of the man who took his life.
