The officer was in a residential area near downtown after taking a report about an assault that had occurred elsewhere in the city. Someone then drove up to the side of the cruiser and opened fire at about 2 a.m., police spokesman Lt. Dave Parker said.
A dark-colored early 1990s sedan was seen leaving the scene, police said. The officer, who wasn't immediately identified, was taken to an Anchorage hospital.
"He has survived his wounds," Parker said. "He has come out of surgery and we're very hopeful he will make a full recovery." Police released few details, but Parker said no motive had been determined and no arrest made. He said the shooting was unrelated to the reported assault.
Parker said the incident was very similar to an Oct. 31 ambush on a parked patrol car in Seattle in which Officer Timothy Brenton was killed and another officer wounded. Christopher Monfort has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and attempted murder in that case.
That attack was the first of three on police officers in Seattle and nearby Pierce County last year that left six officers dead, including four gunned down Nov. 28 as they were doing paperwork in a coffee shop near Tacoma.
Until the assailant in Saturday's Anchorage shooting is caught there is no way to determine whether it was a copy of the Washington attacks, Parker said.
"But it's sure interesting that we've had so many recently," he said.
