Patient who brought in weapon fatally shot 2 men at Delta Junction rehab facility, charges say

Jan. 31—A patient at a private men's rehabilitation center in Delta Junction fatally shot two men with a weapon he brought into the facility, prosecutors allege.

Daniel Peter Serkov, 33, recently moved into the rehabilitation center operated by Alaska Rehabilitation Center Inc. for treatment of a chronic drug addiction, according to a criminal complaint written by Alaska State Troopers Investigator Al Bell. On Jan. 20, he was asked by 44-year-old Andrey Dorozhin and 35-year-old Dmitriy Sergiyenko to turn over his prescription pills and cigarettes, which made him angry, he told investigators.

The men began to corner Serkov in the building on Tanana Loop Extension and he said they threatened to stab him, the complaint said.

Serkov created an elaborate plan to conceal the shooting before he ultimately admitted to it and was arrested on charges including two counts of first-degree murder, the document said.

It's not clear from the charges whether Dorozhin or Sergiyenko were patients at the center or if they were employees. The center could not be reached by phone and did not respond to emails.

Serkov said he shot both Dorozhin and Sergiyenko with a 9 mm handgun he pulled from his back pocket as they approached him, the complaint said. He continued shooting after both men had fallen to the ground, reloaded his weapon and continued to fire at them, it said.

Serkov then shot and killed a dog outside the residence, the complaint said.

He picked up the spent rounds from the area, drove to the Cushman Gun Range and then went to Costco, where he sold his jacket, with the spent rounds in the pocket, to a couple for $45, the complaint said.

Serkov went to an ammunition store and complained about the performance of his gun and had it cleaned, the investigator wrote in the complaint.

He then went to the Fairbanks Police Department and reported he'd shot a dog, troopers said. Serkov later told investigators he knew police would confiscate the weapon because he was barred from owning firearms due to a previous assault conviction. He told investigators he hoped to deceive police by providing them with the cleaned murder weapon before it could be connected to the shootings.

Police received the first report about the homicide just before Serkov had arrived at the station, according to the complaint. While he was with police, Serkov received a call that told him it was clear he had shot Dorozhin and Sergiyenko, the complaint said. Troopers said he was taken for further questioning about the fatal shooting.

Serkov ultimately admitted to law enforcement that he was responsible for the deaths and described the steps he'd taken to conceal the crime, the complaint said.

He was arrested on two first-degree murder charges, tampering with evidence and criminal mischief. Serkov is being held at the Fairbanks Correctional Center.

Alaska Rehabilitation Center Inc.'s facility offers a free drug, alcohol, gambling, pornography and video game rehabilitation program for men, according to its website. The programs range from six months to a year and a half and focus on religion, physical activity and tending to animals and bees. According to its website, there are more than 50 patients at the facility, which sits on more than 415 acres.

Beyond its website, few additional details were available about the nature of the rehabilitation facility or its operators. The center has a current business license that was issued in 2019 and operates as a nonprofit corporation, and the facility's website says it has a location in Delta Junction, along with one in Paynes Creek, California, a small town of less than 50 people in the northern portion of the state.

The corporation's officers could not be reached for this story and did not return messages.

The center is not overseen by the Alaska Division of Behavioral Health or enrolled in state Medicaid, the division said in a statement, so it doesn't have authority to investigate the organization.

State officials reached out to the facility after the shooting to ensure there was enough behavioral health support in the community, they said in a statement, and because "we recognize the magnitude of the tragedy on such a small community."