An Idaho police officer shot dead a man in his own backyard on Monday while searching a neighborhood for a suspect who was said to be armed, officials said.
The incident began when a Bonneville County sheriff stopped a vehicle in Idaho Falls for a routine traffic stop shortly after midnight on Monday, according to an Idaho Falls police statement. While the passenger was in the car, the suspect ran out, officials said.
Idaho Falls police officers and Bonneville County sheriff’s delegates were called to the scene and began looking for the suspect, who was wearing a black shirt and was heading for a residential neighborhood, police said.
A resident told a police officer that he had seen the suspect run around the yard and that the resident believed the suspect was armed with a gun. All police officers received this information, the police said.
During the search, the police found that the suspect had several arrest warrants, including two no-show warrants with original charges of resisting / obstructing the arrest. The others were related to charges of criminal assault against a police officer and providing false information to authorities, officials said.
At some point, the passenger who remained in the car received a text message from the suspect and shared his GPS location with the police. The GPS showed the suspect was in a backyard in the neighborhood where police were searching, according to the police.
“Police and deputies surrounded the residence and yard to prevent the suspect from escaping,” the statement said. “Due to information that the suspect may be armed and a previous history of violence when interacting with police officers, police entered the scene with their service weapons drawn.”
The police said they heard screams and saw a man in a black shirt. He was armed with a gun, and police officers told the man to drop the gun, according to the statement.
“At the moment, we don’t have the answers as to what exactly happened during those moments,” said Idaho Falls Police Chief Bryce Johnson. “We know that during this interaction, an Idaho Falls police officer fired his service weapon, firing a shot that hit the man.”
“The officers tried rescue measures but were unsuccessful. The emergency medical personnel of the Idaho Falls Fire Department also responded and were also unable to provide any lifesaving assistance to the man,” said Johnson.
The statement continued: “Ultimately, police and delegates determined that the man who was shot was not the suspect man, but the resident of that address.”
The real suspect was eventually found hiding in a shed in a different yard and arrested, police said. The Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, the agency that made the arrest, did not immediately answer a question about whether he was actually armed.
“There are no words to express how heavy our hearts are today,” said Johnson. “This situation is terribly tragic for the family, for the officer and for those who love and care about them. We all feel the weight of what happened today. Our sincere condolences go out to the family and friends of the people involved, especially the family of the deceased ”.
The police did not identify anyone involved in the incident, but told NBC News that the suspect and the victim are white and the officer who fired his gun is Latin.
Images from the body camera of the incident were not released.
The officer has been placed on administrative leave while an independent investigation by the Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Task Force is conducted. The results will be delivered to the Bonneville County Prosecutor when the investigation is completed.
The Idaho Falls Police Department will conduct its own investigation to determine whether the proper protocols have been followed.
