‘Quit shooting at the police.’ As IFPD releases footage from recent officer-involved shooting, chief has stern message.
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IDAHO FALLS – The Idaho Falls Police Department released body camera footage Wednesday showing multiple officers’ perspectives during a nerve-wracking shooting incident at the Econo Lodge.
During a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Idaho Falls Police Chief Bryce Johnson went over the footage minute by minute, giving the reasoning behind the officers’ movements during the exchange of gunfire with 45-year-old Robert Flores on April 8.
Johnson identified the officers who fired their guns as Mitch Bierma and Shayden Nagle. Both officers were placed on administrative leave.
Bonneville County Prosecutor Randy Neal announced Wednesday night that Bierma and Nagle had both been cleared of wrongdoing, stating their actions were justified under the circumstances.
“There can be little dispute that officers are acting in self-defense when they return fire at an individual shooting at them, or when they reasonably perceive that an individual presents an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to other officers,” says Neal in the release. “Prosecuting Attorney Neal commends these officers for their selfless courage in the line of fire.”
Video details
The first two minutes of the video have no audio due to a two-minute “look back” feature on the officers’ body cameras, which enables video to be recorded without audio two minutes before an officer presses record.
In the video, multiple officers arrive around 3 p.m. at the Econo Lodge located at 1448 West Broadway Street after a report from hotel staff that two people were refusing to leave their room after checkout.
Officers learned one of the people involved was Flores and say they took precautionary measures due to his criminal history. There was also a woman believed to be in the room, although she was later discovered to have left before the incident.
A hotel staff member is seen leading six officers to room 112. Officers knock on the door multiple times, announcing themselves as IFPD and asking Flores and the woman to leave the hotel.
According to a news release from IFPD, “Seven Idaho Falls Police officers were involved in the initial response. Six officers were inside the hotel. One was outside, watching the room’s window. The officers also brought police tools, including a ballistic shield and a police K9.”
After multiple attempts to convince Flores to leave, officers use a key card to access the room and kick down the door to break the security chain.
Officers find nobody in the bedroom area, but notice the bathroom door is shut.
Police try to communicate with Flores again but do not receive a response. At that point, Bierma and his K9 partner, Argo, move closer to the bathroom door and prepare to send the dog into the bathroom. Another officer and a sergeant are standing near Bierma.
Nagle is on the other side of the bathroom doorway, holding a ballistic shield with two other officers standing behind him in a “stack” behind the shield.
Bierma yells to Flores that if he does not come out, he is going to send the K9 into the bathroom, and Flores will get bitten.
As the sergeant goes to open the bathroom door, Flores appears to fire a shot through the door. This shot strikes the center of the ballistic shield being held by Nagle.
“It’s just the most vulnerable I’ve ever felt.”
Bierma, K9 Argo, the sergeant, and a third police officer run into the hallway, with two going one direction and Bierma going into the other.
As officers retreat the room in response to the gunfire, Argo bites the sergeant on the arm. Bierma immediately calls Argo off, and the dog runs down the hallway, following the other officers.
The sergeant required medical care for the bite.
Nagle and the two officers with him hide in the far corner of the room, on the side of a bed behind the ballistic shield.
As Nagle and the two other officers are getting the shield in place, Flores allegedly reaches out of the bathroom with a gun held in both hands and points it toward the officers in the room.
Nagle fires three rounds at Flores, which go through the drywall and into the bathroom, where they strike Flores twice in the abdomen. Flores then appears to shoot twice, missing the officers.
Bierma, from the hallway, also fires two rounds at Flores.
The officers inside the room stay crammed into the corner behind the shield for 23 minutes until they are able to be evacuated through the window.
“Throughout the 23 minutes, officers could hear Flores moving, coughing and making other sounds, but he did not respond to officers,” according to the release. “During this time, additional officers responded and evacuated other hotel guests and staff.”
An unidentified officer is seen visibly shaking and nearly hyperventilating as he tries to calm himself in the back of a SWAT vehicle.
“I’ve never been shot at before,” he says. “It’s just the most vulnerable I’ve ever felt.”
The IFPD SWAT team, Unmanned Aerial Systems (drone) team, crisis negotiators and others were activated to respond during the incident. Through the use of drones and robots, officials were able to tell that Flores was still moving after the officers were evacuated. IFPD used several different methods to try to communicate with Flores with no response.
Around 5:30 p.m. Idaho Falls SWAT officers use a flashbang grenade and enter the room, taking Flores into custody.
‘Quit pointing guns at them, quit firing bullets at them’
During the conference, Johnson made a strong and concerted point to humanize his officers, many of whom have been shot at multiple times in their careers, and one who experienced their first gunfire incident at the Econo Lodge.
“This is the third time Idaho Falls Police officers have been shot at in the last five months,” said Johnson. “Of the seven officers who responded, more than half are veterans who have served the country, and all of them are fathers.”
Johnson refers to an officer involved shooting on Dec. 4 near the Candlewood Suites Hotel, and another on Jan. 8 in the area of 4th Street and South Lee Avenue.
Bierma, an IFPD officer for nearly nine years, was also at the December shooting, in which the suspect ended up shooting himself and dying in front of the officers.
Bierma is a K9 handler, a position that Johnson says often brings him into the most dangerous and volatile situations.
“He and K9 Argo, who go to the most dangerous calls all the time, have been partners for almost four years,” says Johnson. “Officer Bierma is a veteran, a husband and a father.”
Johnson was clearly emotional when he said Nagle had only been an officer for less than two years and has already been in the line of fire.
“Had he not been holding that ballistic shield, that round would have hit him,” said Johnson. “Officer Nagle is 23 years old. He is a father of a little baby and he has a new little baby at home.”
Of the unidentified officers involved, according to Johnson, one is an active member of the Idaho National Guard, and one is a veteran and former “beloved school resource officer at a local middle school.”
Johnson also critiqued the criminal justice system, saying it needs to learn to keep dangerous criminals behind bars.
Including the incident detailed in this story, Flores has allegedly prompted three SWAT team responses in five months.
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“We need to, collectively as an entire criminal justice system, do better at getting some dangerous people off the street and keeping them off the street,” said Johnson. “I do not have words to express the pride I have in what these Idaho Falls officers do — their courage under fire, their extreme restraint when they’re being shot at, their tactical planning beforehand, their response to try to keep people safe.”
In a heartfelt statement directed toward recent shooting suspects, Johnson said he and his officers are committed to going above and beyond to safeguard lives, and urges the community to stop aiming guns at officers.
“Quit shooting at the police. My officers are doing what they have to do to stay safe. You can watch every one of those videos, and you’ll see in every one, they do everything they can to try to safely take people into custody,” said Johnson. “Quit pointing guns at them, quit firing bullets at them — that’s what I want to tell them.”
Additional body camera footage from this incident is available by filing a public records request on the Idaho Falls Police website.
Flores was treated for his wounds at a local hospital and has been charged with six counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement officers, unlawful possession of a firearm, misdemeanor resisting or obstructing officers, misdemeanor trespassing, and six felony enhancements for the use of a deadly weapon. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 1.
He could face up to life in prison if convicted.