A village police chief suffered life threatening injuries on Thursday when he was shot at least three times by an intoxicated man wielding a .357 caliber pistol in Chevak.

According to Alaska State Troopers, Chief McDonald was responding to reports of a disturbance at a home near the HeadStart building in Chevak. The suspect, identified by authorities as 24-year-old Harold Paniyak, was reportedly armed and intoxicated.

When McDonald arrived on scene he encountered Paniyak on the boardwalk near the HeadStart building, troopers say.

“It was reported that as soon as Paniyak saw Chief McDonald, he fired one round from a .357 Cal pistol striking Chief McDonald,” troopers wrote in an online dispatch. “After Chief McDonald fell to the ground, Paniyak then shot him at least two more times.”

The injured police chief and another witness took cover inside the HeadStart building. Paniyak attempted to enter the building himself but then left the area still holding the pistol.

“Shortly after, Paniyak came across another community member and at that point shot himself in the chest with the pistol,” troopers say. He was declared dead at the scene.

Troopers in Bethel were notified of the shooting at 8:15 p.m. on Thursday and responded to the village to investigate with assistance from the Alaska Bureau of Investigation. McDonald was medivacked to Anchorage in critical condition.

Paniyak’s next of kin were in the village when he shot himself, and were aware of his death. McDonald’s family members were notified of the incident as well, troopers say.

Paniyak has some criminal history according to online court records. He was charged with three counts of third degree assault in 2013, but all three charges were later dismissed by the prosecution. In 2015, Paniyak pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor assault.

Chevak is a village in Western Alaska with a population of about 1,000 people according to a 2015 Department of Labor estimate.