‘TRAGEDIES HAPPEN’

Idaho Cops Searching for Suspect Shoot and Kill Wrong Man

The victim had a gun but was in his own backyard when cops stormed in.

Idaho police searching for a man who fled a traffic stop shot and killed a different man early Monday whom they encountered with a gun in his own backyard. Authorities have not released the names of anyone involved and said there are many unanswered questions; the case will be investigated by the prosecutor’s office. According to East Idaho News, just after midnight in Idaho Falls, a sheriff’s deputy pulled over a car for a broken taillight. The actual suspect, who was wanted on several warrants, jumped out and fled into a backyard. A local resident reportedly told cops that he saw a man running through yards and that he appeared to have a gun. Police then zeroed in on one yard after the car’s driver gave them the suspect’s GPS coordinates, officials said.

In the yard they encountered a man with a gun—but he wasn't the suspect; he was the homeowner. A cop fired one shot, which killed him. The real suspect was then found hiding elsewhere in a shed. “The information shared at this time is not intended to assign blame or to necessarily explain what occurred,” Idaho Falls Police Chief Bryce Johnson said. “I just don’t have words for it—the same thing with the officers involved. Sometimes everyone does what they think is right. Tragedies happen.”