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Prosecutor: Boise Police officer's actions justified in January shooting

Posted at 1:11 PM, Jun 26, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-26 19:19:19-04

Twin Falls County Prosecuting Attorney Grant Loebs has cleared a Boise Police officer from an officer-involved shooting on January 1 of this year.

About 7:15 a.m., Boise Police officers were dispatched to the 900 block of S. Wild Phlox Way to a report of a man with a gun. Moments later, dispatchers received a call from a woman, later identified as the suspect’s daughter, that she had received a text from her father saying “I’m going home to die," -- according to a Boise Police Department news release.

Officers on the scene spotted a man walking out of the carport area of the home. According to the release, officers saw he was bleeding from his neck area and he was walking slowly toward officers -- with his right hand behind his back.

Reports say officers could not see what was in the suspect’s hand and they repeatedly ordered him to show his hands.  The man refused -- and continued to walk toward the closest officer.

Officers say they believed the man either had a gun or knife behind his back, mainly because the initial call involved a man with a gun.  Due to the possible threat against the officer, the officer closest to the man fired his gun three times, striking the suspect, the release said.

Boise Police said the suspect was also suffering from "multiple self-inflicted knife wounds" and officers later found a knife on him. He was given first aid and transferred to a local hospital, where he has since been treated and released.

After the investigation, Twin Falls County Prosecuting Attorney Grant Loebs released this statement, redacting the name of the suspect.

"After reading the reports, conferring with the CITF investigators, reviewing evidence from the incident, and considering the all relevant information, including the facts related above, I have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal charge against any of the law enforcement officers involved in the January 1, 2018, shooting of -------------. The facts in this case reveal that Mr. -----, by calling in a warning of a "man with a gun," advancing on officers while insisting on holding his hand behind his back, and refusing to comply with repeated orders to stop and show his hands, made himself a danger to law enforcement officers who were engaged in the lawful performance of their duties, and a potential danger to the public at large.

The statement made by -----to his daughter, as reported by her to Police Dispatch, coupled with his erratic behavior, indicates ----- was possibly attempting to provoke Officers to shoot and kill him. Based on the foregoing, I have concluded that the actions of the Officer who fired upon Mr. -----, therefore, were justified and not illegal."