BOISE, Idaho — Valley County Prosecutor Brian Naugle recently concluded that the Boise Police Department (BPD) officer who shot an Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC) officer during the transfer of an IDOC prisoner from St. Alphonsus was justified in their actions according to Idaho state law.
Before reaching that conclusion, Naugle reviewed video footage of the shooting as well as documents related to the investigation by the Ada County Critical Incident Task Force (CITF).
The shooting in question happened on Mar. 20, 2024, at approximately 2:45 p.m.
On that day, three IDOC officers were in the process of transferring inmate Skylar Meade from St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise back to prison. At the time, Meade was serving a 20-year sentence for shooting at a Twin Falls sheriff’s deputy during a high-speed chase in 2017.
As the IDOC officers loaded Skylar Meade into a van, an acquaintance of Meade, Nicholas Umphenour, began shooting at the officers from a close distance. Umphenour ultimately shot two officers before fleeing the scene with Meade in a Honda passenger vehicle.
After the ambush and subsequent escape, an officer who avoided being shot dragged his injured IDOC colleague into the hospital for medical treatment. A release from the Valley County Prosecutor's Office states that the officer "took a position of cover near the emergency room entrance doors" to secure the emergency room entrance in case the criminals returned.
However, the officer only apprised IDOC staff of the evolving situation, not local law enforcement dispatch.
During the incident, multiple St. Alphonsus staff members called 911. The first caller did not identify the agency of the ambushed officers. When asked about the shooter's whereabouts, the caller is reported to have told dispatch that the shooter was "in our bay right now."
The caller then delivered a description of the shooter as a white male with a dark beard, pale skin, and standing roughly six feet tall. That description also matched one of the IDOC officers on the scene.
When BPD officers arrived, they stealthily approached the scene, believing an active shooter situation was ongoing. During their approach, IDOC officers were unaware of BPD's presence.
As the BPD officers got closer, they were unable to view the IDOC insignia on the officer's uniform.
Believing the IDOC officer was the shooter, a Boise Police Officer fired a tactical rifle twice, missing the officer but striking a wall near where the officer was positioned. As a result, shrapnel from the bullet strikes hit one of the IDOC officers. BPD officers then breached the emergency room doors and realized the person they'd fired upon was, in fact, an IDOC officer.
The IDOC officer who was struck by shrapnel suffered minor cuts on his face but avoided any major injuries.
After completing their investigation, the Valley County Prosecutor's Office found the shooting was justifiable due to his "reasonable belief" that he was attempting to neutralize the shooter responsible for firing upon IDOC officers.
"The lack of specific information about the identities of the suspects and the IDOC officers made it impossible for them to know that they were firing on an IDOC officer rather than the suspect, who, unbeknownst to them, had already fled the scene. Based on this reasonable mistake of fact, and because the officers were justified in using deadly force to address a reasonably perceived threat, the Boise Police Officer who fired on the IDOC officer cannot and should not be held criminally liable for his actions," concludes the report.
Following their escape, Skylar Meade murdered 83-year-old James Mauney and 72-year-old Gerald “Don” Henderson while on the run.
Both Meade and Umphenour pleaded guilty to the charges filed against them. Meade was later sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, while Umphenour received a single life sentence for his role in the St. Alphonsus ambush.
