Review clears deputies in man’s fatal shooting

Two Kootenai County deputies involved in a Dec. 28 shootout that killed an armed suspect and seriously injured a Coeur d’Alene police officer were cleared Wednesday of violating any departmental policies and procedures.

Deputies Justin Bangs and Kevin Smart had been placed on paid administrative leave immediately after the shooting at 1332 Starling in Hayden that killed 38-year-old Michael A. Madonna and injured Officer Michael Kralicek.

One of the deputies has returned to work, but sheriff’s spokesman Capt. Ben Wolfinger wouldn’t say which deputy remains off duty.

“That’s a personnel issue. I’m not going to go there,” Wolfinger said. “We give them the time off they need to get the professional help they need to come back and be productive deputies.”

Kootenai County prosecutors had cleared the deputies of any criminal wrongdoing two weeks ago. The internal review was limited to whether the deputies had followed departmental procedures.

Bangs and Smart had responded to Hayden to investigate a hit-and-run collision that damaged the brick sign at the Grouse Meadows subdivision. Kralicek had been at Madonna’s house earlier that night investigating the reported theft of two empty beer kegs from a Coeur d’Alene distributor.

Just after midnight, Madonna’s garage door opened and the deputies approached him, according to court records. Bangs later told investigators that he knew Madonna had slipped his handcuffs during a DUI arrest on Dec. 17, in which he tried to reach for an officer’s handgun.

During questioning on Dec. 28, Bangs handcuffed Madonna and placed him in a chair in his garage, Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas wrote in his report.

“Bangs momentarily left Madonna unattended while he communicated with Smart …” Douglas wrote. “When Bangs returned to Madonna, he had moved his handcuffs to the front of his body.”

Bangs again handcuffed Madonna’s hands behind his back and reminded him that was how he got in trouble in the previous DUI arrest. Bangs again left Madonna to go speak with Kralicek, who was arriving at the scene, Douglas said.

It was then that Madonna slipped his hands forward a second time, ran inside his home, grabbed a .357 Magnum revolver and fired twice. Authorities said that one of those bullets hit Kralicek in the jaw before lodging in his neck.

Bangs and Smart fired a total of 31 shots, sometimes through a wall, during the shootout that lasted 65 seconds. Madonna eventually showed himself again and was hit three times: once in the back of the arm, once in the face and once in the lower chest.

Douglas found on Jan. 31 that the killing of Madonna was a justifiable homicide based on Idaho law. His report did not review the deputies’ actions prior to the shooting.

Following Douglas’ criminal review, Sheriff Rocky Watson empanelled a review board to study whether Bangs and Smart followed department policies and procedures during the incident.

That board included Division Commander Lt. Neal Robertson, firearms range master Sgt. Al March, Deputy Kevin Mumford, Idaho State Police Lt. Curtis Exley and Division Commander Lt. Nile Shirley, who served as board chairman. Watson said the board reviewed reports from the Idaho State Police, videos of the incident recorded in patrol cars and Douglas’ review of the incident.

The report does not address the appropriateness of Bangs’ actions when he twice walked away from a suspect known for slipping handcuffs. “It’s not in their summary so I guess it wasn’t an issue for them,” Wolfinger said.

Asked if deputies are trained to shoot blindly through walls, Wolfinger said Wednesday that “suppressive” fire is something that deputies are trained to do and that Bangs told investigators he could see Madonna pointing the barrel of his gun around a corner.

The board didn’t interview the deputies.

“The Investigative reports indicate that both deputies’ training backgrounds were checked, and their actions and use of equipment were found to be within the policies and procedures of the department,” the report states. “As a result of the thorough investigations conducted … the Board was not compelled to hear direct testimony of the involved deputies.”

Essentially, the board blamed the entire situation on Madonna’s “deliberate, aggressive and life threatening actions.

“Deputy Bangs and Smart were decisive and deliberate under such adversity and aggression on the part of Madonna. The decisions and actions of deputies Justin Bangs and Kevin Smart were within policy,” according to the report. “In fact, the Deputies and all others involved in this incident showed great restraint and followed the continuum of force, prior to initiating ‘deadly force.’

“A review of the reports and tapes clearly displayed that the Deputies were in grave danger and in a fight for their lives. Under the circumstances, it took tremendous courage and intestinal fortitude to continue in such an engagement for so long a period of time,” the board wrote.

Wolfinger said the review completes all investigations into the shooting. Kralicek, 35, was recently moved to Colorado to begin extensive rehabilitation.

“An officer-involved shooting is terrible on a department,” Wolfinger said. “It impacts everybody in a tough way. But they are pulling together and doing the job in a professional manner.”