Tanner Shoesmith | Bonneville County Jail
IDAHO FALLS – Authorities released the suspect’s identity after a human hunt that resulted in the death of another man on Monday morning.
Shortly after midnight, a deputy sheriff from Bonneville County stopped a car with a broken taillight near First Street and Lincoln Drive in Idaho Falls. When the car stopped, authorities said a man now identified as Tanner Shoesmith, 22, opened the passenger door and ran through a neighborhood, according to a press release from the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office.
The manhunt followed with law enforcement across the area, searching the neighborhood for Shoesmith. On the radio, a description of a man in a black shirt and khaki pants was released. Neighbors saw the man running and told police he might have a gun, Idaho Falls police chief Bryce Johnson said on Monday.
As the police continued to search for Shoesmith, they found that he had three warrants for not appearing in court on charges of criminal assault against a police officer, resistance to arrest and providing false information to the police. Officers gave this information to officers looking for the suspect, according to BCSO spokesman Bryan Lovell, in a press release.
RELATED | Policeman killed man in backyard while police searched for suspect
A woman in the car with Shoesmith showed police officers a text message with Shoesmith’s GPS location, according to a statement of probable cause obtained by EastIdahoNews.com. The GPS location placed Shoesmith in the backyard of a house on the corner of Tendoy and Syringa.
Minutes earlier, police officers in the area spoke to a man in that house, saying they were looking for a suspect and would stay in the area for a while, police said.
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What happened next is not exactly clear, but the Idaho Falls Police Department said it heard screams from the backyard of that house. Police say a man with a gun and a black shirt was in the yard. An officer then fired a single shot, hitting and killing the man, the same one that different officers spoke to earlier.
Authorities have not yet released the name of the deceased, nor the official, who has been placed on administrative leave.
At around 12:26 pm, the police found Shoesmith hiding in a shed on Linden Drive, a block from the shooting involving police officers.
Police officers registered Shoesmith at Bonneville County Prison because of his warrants and a new misdemeanor charge for resisting arrest.
The police shooting investigation is still ongoing by the Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Task Force. The multi-jurisdictional police agency is tasked with investigating shootings involving police in the area.