Soldier hit by SUV at Fairbanks Army base gate is killed

A soldier working at Fort Wainwright’s main gate was killed Monday afternoon after a woman struck him with her SUV, authorities say.

U.S. Army Alaska identified the soldier Tuesday afternoon as Pfc. Arturo Alejandro Gomez, a 29-year-old 11th Airborne Division infantryman from Provo, Utah.

The woman, 31-year-old Brianna Raquel Lapp, was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and driving under the influence, according to the Fairbanks Police Department. Officers responded just after 5 p.m. to the incident, which involved a total of three vehicles, including Lapp’s Toyota 4Runner.

A charging document filed Tuesday also included a charge of second-degree murder.

Lapp, who is not affiliated with the base, struck two vehicles and kept driving before hitting the soldier working as a guard at the gate, police spokeswoman Teal Soden said in an email Tuesday. “When our officer arrived at the scene, several military personnel had their rifles pointed at the defendant’s vehicle.”

The Fairbanks police officer observed “poor mobility, slurred speech” and a strong odor of alcohol on Lapp, according to a probable cause statement filed with charges Tuesday. She was arrested. The soldier, Gomez, was declared dead by medics at the scene.

Over two hours later, a breath-alcohol sample Lapp provided measured 0.299, more than three times Alaska’s legal limit for driving of 0.08, according to the probable cause statement.

Witnesses told police they saw the 4Runner traveling fast on the Steese Highway near the intersection with Gaffney Road, which leads to the base gate, according to the statement. The SUV struck the back of a car and then kept going, entering the median, driving over two trees, and then turning east toward Fort Wainwright, it said.

Lapp drove back onto the road at the Richardson Highway, also in the area, and then collided with a pickup before continuing on toward the base gate, the statement said. She drove through a section of fencing near a construction area, crossed Gaffney Road and struck the soldier, it said.

The soldier was standing several hundred feet from the gate at the time, directing vehicles for random inspections, the statement said. Multiple witnesses said he tried to jump out of the way before he was struck, it said.

The base’s main gate, Gaffney Gate, reopened around noon Tuesday.

Gomez — who was assigned to the 11th Airborne Division’s 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team — joined the Army last July and trained at Georgia’s Fort Moore before coming to Alaska in February, Army officials said in a statement.

“The loss of Pfc. Gomez has had a devastating impact on the unit,” Col. Christopher Brawley, brigade commander, said in the statement. “We are doing our best to support his family, friends and fellow soldiers in the aftermath of this tragic and senseless incident.”

Police expressed condolences to the soldier’s family and colleagues and friends on base. They asked anyone with information about the incident to email investigations@fairbanks.us or call 907-450-6500.

Army officials said the Fairbanks Police Department and Army Criminal Investigation Division are investigating the incident.