Idaho policeman killed man at home after mistaking identity, police say



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A policeman shot dead an Idaho man in his backyard after mistaking him for someone wanted by police, authorities said on Monday, announcing an investigation into the shooting.

The police did not identify the victim or the policeman who shot him. The Idaho Falls Police Department said the pursued man was later found hiding in a shed, where he was arrested.

The officer was put on administrative leave and Chief Bryce Johnson called the matter “incredibly tragic,” the police department said in a statement. Jessica Clements, a police spokesperson, said on Tuesday the department would not release the names of the victim or the police officer until the early stages of the investigation were completed and that the victim’s family had requested that his name be is not shared.

In its statement, the Police Department said Idaho State Police will investigate the shooting, which took place in Idaho Falls, a town of about 63,000 people about 250 miles south of the border. is from Boise. After the investigation, the case will be sent to the Bonneville County district attorney’s office to determine possible charges, he said.

The statement also said the Idaho Falls Police Department would conduct a separate internal investigation to determine if its policies were being followed.

The officer carried a body camera that was turned on during filming, and those footage will be part of the investigation, the department said. The Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office identified the arrested man as Tanner JN Shoesmith, 22, and said he was held in a county jail on outstanding warrants and a charge of resisting the offense. the arrest.

The shooting took place shortly after midnight on Monday, just minutes after a Bonneville County sheriff’s deputy attempted to pull a traffic stop for a broken tail light in Idaho Falls.

The vehicle pulled to a corner and a man fled into a residential area, police said. A woman stayed in the car and spoke to sheriff’s deputies, authorities said.

The deputy then radioed that the man had fled, reporting the direction and a description of his clothes, including a black shirt.

Officers from the Idaho Falls Police Department and the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office arrived and began searching for the man.

A resident told a police officer that the man had run into a yard and “they believed the suspect had a gun,” police said. The officer passed this information on to the others.

As the search continued, police said, authorities identified the man as a person with “multiple arrest warrants” for his arrest, including felony charges against a police officer, resisting or obstructing the police. arrest and supply of false information to the police.

The woman in the car showed officers a message that allowed them to trace the man’s GPS position, showing he was in the backyard of a nearby residence, police said.

“Officers and deputies surrounded the residence and the backyard in order to prevent the suspect from fleeing,” the department said. He added that officers arrived with their firearms due to the report that he may be armed and due to his “history of violence in his interactions with police.”

Police then heard screaming and approached the backyard, where they found a man wearing a black shirt and holding a gun.

The ministry said officers told him to drop the gun. At one point during the confrontation, one of the officers shot the man.

“We don’t currently have the answers on what exactly happened during those times,” Chief Johnson said. Firefighters and emergency medical personnel attempted to save the man, but were unsuccessful, he said.

Officers later learned that the victim was not the man they were looking for, but a resident at the address.

“There are no words to express how heavy our hearts are today,” Chief Johnson said in the statement. “This situation is terribly tragic for the family, for the officer and for those who love and care for them.

After the shooting, an MP from the area reported seeing another man running around the area. Police found him “hiding in a hangar at the back of the residence” and arrested him, police said.

In total, the episode, from the traffic stop to the shooting and arrest, lasted about 20 minutes.

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