Prosecutors say a Boise Police Officer who shot and killed a man last summer was justified in pulling the trigger. Today, police shared some video of the incident, captured by body cameras. Noel Rodriguez was shot and killed just days after the Boise Police Department started issuing body cameras to their officers.
The dramatic video shows the moment Boise police officer Rob Rainford shot and killed Noel Rodriguez this past June. Prosecutors say Rodriguez made himself a clear and immediate danger to law enforcement and that Rainford was justified in the shooting.
"That vehicle is a deadly weapon. If that vehicle breaks loose, there is no doubt it can cause significant bodily injury or death," said Deputy Chief Eugene Smith of the Boise Police Department.
Police say it all started a little after 2:00 a.m., when they pulled over Rodriguez for suspected drunk driving. Investigators say he refused to get out of the car. Officers tried to remove him, but they say Rodriguez tried to stab one of them with a screwdriver and then sped off, narrowly missing another officer.
Close to a half hour later, authorities say Rodriguez returned to the scene and was soon boxed in by police.
Video portions of that second encounter are now available to the public. One angle shows a Boise police officer working to remove a trailer hitch to prevent Rodriguez from escaping. You can see the tires on the truck Rodriguez is driving kicking up a cloud of smoke as police say he was shifting from reverse to drive. The sound of revving engine is so you loud you cannot hear the gun shot.
A second angle from a Garden City police officer's point of view shows officer Rainford pointing his gun at the driver side window, ordering Rodriguez to stop. Police say because of the smoke and noise, Rainford could not tell if his fellow officers were in harm’s way. Police say, fearing for those officers' safety, Rainford fired a single shot.
Police say they performed life-saving measures on Rodriguez, but he was pronounced dead at Saint Alphonsus. The shooting happened just days after Boise Police started issuing body cameras to some of their officers, saying they wanted to be more transparent.
"Our community deserves to know what we are doing, and we want make to sure we are trying to share that with them as openly as possible," said Deputy Chief Smith.
Close to half of the officers at the Boise Police Department wear body cameras.
**Below is the uncut video from a Garden City officer's body cam. WARNING It is unedited and does contain the shooting of Noel Rodriguez**
