Community meeting over Kodiak slayings to be held tonight

The Coast Guard has called a community meeting tonight (Monday) in Kodiak to discuss last week’s double homicide at the base’s communications station.

Law enforcement officials remain tight-lipped about the murders of 41-year-old James Hopkins and 51-year-old Richard Belisle, who were shot to death inside a building at the Com Station complex. Hopkins was a Petty Officer 1st Class electronics technician, and Belisle was a retired Chief Petty Officer, who was working for the Coast Guard as a civilian employee.

FBI Spokesman Eric Gonzales said over the weekend that the killer was still on the loose, but the community was not in any danger. He did not say why he thought Kodiak residents were not in danger.

Meanwhile, Alaska State Trooper vehicles were seen blocking access to a home in the Bell’s Flats neighborhood all weekend. Individuals in white encounter suits were seen Sunday searching the house and area.

Tonight’s community meeting will be held at the Gerald C. Wilson Auditorium at 7 p.m.

A memorial service for Hopkins and Belisle will be held Wednesday in a hangar at the Kodiak Coast Guard base.

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