Boise police shoot, kill man in downtown shooting near Boise State University

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — The Boise Police Department shot and killed a man Thursday after he allegedly charged officers with a weapon, according to the police chief.

Chief Ron Winegar told reporters at a news conference Thursday that just before 10:55 a.m., the department received a call from the man, who was in his 50s, asking for police assistance at the Morrison Park Apartments, where he lived. The downtown Boise complex is near Boise State University and typically houses students.

Winegar said that officers arrived at the apartment complex, where they initially spoke to the man from his balcony while officers were in the parking lot. The man, whom they encountered several days ago, then came downstairs, when Winegar said the man charged the officers with several weapons, including a “sharp” or “hitched weapon” after commands were given for him to stop.

He added that two officers — who were wearing body cameras — were involved in the shooting. The officers will be placed on administrative leave, which is protocol after a shooting.

“This is certainly not something that anyone in our community wants to happen,” Winegar said. “The officers don’t want to be involved in situations like this.”

The man died at the scene, Winegar said.

Jacob Davidson, a window installer who was working in the area, told the Idaho Statesman in person that he heard five gunshots. In a tweet, Boise police asked the public to avoid the residential area near Boise State University following the shooting. Police said they closed Dale Street between West Royal Boulevard and West Island Avenue.

The Meridian Police Department is leading an investigation on the incident as part of the Critical Incident Task Force, which is launched after every police shooting. Neither of the officers were injured.

4 FATAL BOISE POLICE SHOOTINGS THIS YEAR

This is the sixth police shooting that the Boise Police Department has been involved in this year — “six too many,” Winegar said — and the second one in the past week.

In the past five weeks, the Boise Police Department has fatally shot two other people, including 22-year-old Payton Wasson. An officer shot Wasson in the head in late June, according to Boise police. Just over a week ago, six officers shot and killed 28-year-old Macey Juker in the North End after police say Juker shot at officers while they were trying to take him into custody, according to previous Statesman reporting.

Police said the six officers would be named at a “later date,” but over a week later, the department has yet to release the officers’ names.

Typically, the department releases names within two to three days. The department has been involved in a total of four fatal shootings this year. Last year, the Boise Police Department was involved in three shootings, but none of them were fatal.

“This is far too frequently happening in our community,” Winegar said during Thursday’s news conference, “and it’s a problem and issue that is much bigger than just a police problem.”