New documents allegedly detail what led to fatal Compass Academy parking lot shooting
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IDAHO FALLS — Newly released court documents detail, from a suspect’s perspective, what happened that reportedly led to a fatal shooting in the Compass Academy parking lot in February.
Taylor Alan Aughenbaugh, who was previously indicted on two counts of felony aggravated battery using a deadly weapon and one count of felony concealing or destroying evidence, was charged Tuesday with another felony for grand theft of a firearm – for which he could spend an additional 14 years in prison.
Aughenbaugh was originally released on March 18 after paying a $100,000 bail through a local bail bondsman. However, he was arrested again on July 1 for the new felony charge, and his bail was set to $20,000.
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According to the newly released records, an Idaho Falls Police officer was assigned to ride in the ambulance with a victim of the shooting, 25-year-old Alexander Barber, as the scene was being cleared.
After arriving at EIRMC, Barber was pronounced deceased.
The officer was told by emergency room staff that there was another victim in the emergency room with a gunshot wound, identified as Aaron Murdoch. The staff said Murdoch’s friend, Gabriel Perkins, had driven him to EIRMC and was in the waiting room.
The officer found Perkins and asked to search him. The officer reportedly confiscated a pocket knife before the two spoke.
According to court documents, Perkins “appeared to be nervous and could not stand still.” After reading him his Miranda rights, Perkins told the officer he had been at a party where attendees were using cocaine.
Perkins claims as soon as people started using drugs, he and his friends left the party. The next day, Aughenbaugh began accusing Perkins of stealing his wallet, and Perkins denied it.
According to Perkins, he was being harassed by Aughenbaugh and his friends for stealing the wallet, so he told Aughenbaugh to meet up with him to “either talk or fight” at Compass Academy.
Perkins came with his unidentified girlfriend, Murdoch, and another man, Skylar Andra. The group arrived in two trucks. Later, Aughenbaugh arrived in a Dodge Charger, in tow with a black Jeep Cherokee, totaling six more people in the parking lot.
According to Perkins, everyone got out of their cars and began to argue before an unknown male began hitting Perkins, and they got into a physical fight.
Perkins says he hit the man, and he became unconscious.
After the man to the ground, Perkins says another man pulled out a black gun and started firing at him and his friends. Perkins’ group hid behind his truck, and Murdoch began shooting back at the other group.
Perkins told the officer that after Murdoch started shooting he “saw two male subjects fall to the ground” but did “not see any blood when they fell.”
Murdoch and Perkins reportedly got in a truck and left after this, to go to the hospital. The officer asked Perkins where the gun Murdoch used was, and Perkins said he did not know.
Shortly after, Idaho Falls Police dispatch received a call from the mother of one of Perkins’ friends, saying she believed she had a gun in her home that may have been involved in the shooting.
When Perkins was asked why the gun was at his friend’s house, he reportedly changed his story and said they dropped it off on the way to the hospital. When asked why he lied to the officer about the gun, Perkins reportedly said he was afraid.
The officer then asked why a gun was brought to the meeting with Aughenbaugh. Perkins said “(Aughenbaugh) and the people he hangs out with usually carry guns” and Murdoch had said that he was going to bring a gun.
When asked if Perkins heard Murdoch say he intended to use the gun, Perkins said Murdoch “was willing to use the firearm for safety if needed.”
While waiting for a detective to interview Perkins, the officer says Perkins “began to pace back and forth in the room” and “was becoming more anxious.” The officer asked Perkins to sit down multiple times, and Perkins responded he “could not sit down and that he just wanted to go home.”
Perkins then went to speak with the detective, and the officer learned that two more victims, identified as Colton Clark and Johnson had also been admitted to EIRMC.
Aughenbaugh, Perkins, Andra, and Murdoch were all arrested and booked into the Bonneville County Jail. Aughenbaugh could face up to 89 years in prison if convicted after the new charge.
Perkins, 19, was indicted and pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder of Alexander Barber with a deadly weapon enhancement, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon enhancement, leaving the scene of an injury accident, and concealing evidence. If convicted, Perkins could face life in prison.
Andra, 19, pleaded not guilty to felony leaving the scene of an injury accident. If convicted, Andra could face up to 5 years in prison. Murdoch, 20, pleaded not guilty to felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon enhancement. If convicted, Murdoch could face up to 20 years in prison.
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On March 21, officers recorded a jail call between Perkins and his girlfriend. In the call, Perkins references Lance Broncho, a man who was arrested for a murder on 4th Street in Idaho Falls on March 9.
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Perkins reportedly told his girlfriend he “was sad that Lance isn’t going to room with him because he was going to bully Lance the entire time.”
On March 22, the officer learned that the gun Aughenbaugh was reportedly in possession of during the shooting, a Glock .380, was owned by a man who had the gun stolen during a burglary in 2023.
According to police reports, Aughenbaugh initially told officers he found the gun the day of the shooting behind a dumpster and then “immediately lost it after the shooting.” A month later, he gave the gun to his attorney.
The officer also learned that the gun that Perkins used to allegedly shoot Barber was stolen from a man’s truck’s glove compartment. Both guns were sent to an Idaho State Police Lab for DNA, latent and ballistics evaluation, according to police records.
On June 20, reports came back showing that both guns matched the spent shell casings that were located at the scene of the shooting.
Background
According to Bonneville County Prosecuting Attorney Randy Neal, Perkins murdered Barber and shot another person, Devan Johnson, before running over Colton Clark with his vehicle.
According to Neal, Perkins did not initially have a handgun on him, but video obtained by police “clearly shows him handling a (shotgun) prior to the start of the altercation.”
Perkins reportedly had a shotgun in his vehicle nearby and retrieved it but did not use it.
Neal says Murdoch was armed from the beginning and shot his pistol approximately 11 times toward the people who were running away from the fight.
Perkins then reportedly took the gun from Murdoch and aimed at Barber, who was reportedly unarmed and standing above his injured friends, before shooting him in the head.
“He then used that gun to threaten (Johnson), who had been shot in the back,” said Neal during Perkins’ preliminary hearing. “(Johnson) was lying on the ground, suffering from a bullet wound. (Perkins) leaned down and took another shot.”
Neal says Perkins then drove away, driving over Clark, whom he previously knocked out during the fistfight.
“These are some of the most significant and severe actions that we’ve seen in a long time,” said Neal. “Mr. Barber died from his injuries, and Mr. Clark was very lucky that with the injuries he sustained from being driven over with the truck, that he survived.”
Neal says Perkins then threw the gun away in a trash can, and a group of his friends later retrieved it.