Guns may be linked to chase

IDAHO FALLS – Authorities have found three guns along Interstate 15 in eastern Idaho that they say could be connected to a possible highway shooting and police chase earlier this month.

The guns were found about 8 a.m. Saturday after a nearly weeklong search of a 15-mile section of I-15 near Blackfoot.

Police say Jose Merced Zamora threw the guns from his vehicle during a 20-minute chase on Feb. 5 that ended after officers blew out the tires on Zamora’s vehicle and then rammed it when he started driving into oncoming traffic.

Police began the chase after receiving a report that someone had shot at other motorists on the highway.

“The victims were driving and they didn’t provoke him,” said Paul Newbold of the Blackfoot Police Department. “He just came driving by and shoots ‘em.”

The other motorists were not hit, Blackfoot police told the Associated Press on Sunday.

Zamora initially told police his name was Jose Mendosa, but authorities later discovered his true identity.

Zamora, 27, is wanted in Yakima on a second-degree murder charge, a second-degree assault charge, and a firearm violation, all in connection with the death of 17-year-old Ole Owens in 2002.

Found on Saturday were a Winchester 12 gauge shotgun and a 40-caliber Glock semiautomatic pistol, both loaded, near exit 113. A Taurus 357 Pistol was found in the same area. All were turned over to the Bingham County sheriff’s office.

Authorities said one of the handguns and the shotgun were used in the highway shooting.

Blackfoot Police Lt. Paul Newbold said the guns found on Saturday are not related to Owens’ death.

Zamora was being held in the Bingham County Jail on $250,000 bond. In Idaho, he is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of eluding police.