Officer Killed In Gunfight At Boise Tavern 2 Suspects Die, Another Officer Wounded In Capital’s First Line-Of-Duty Slaying

One police officer was killed, another wounded and two suspects shot to death in a gunfight outside a Boise tavern early Saturday that was captured in a chilling tape recording.

Officer demands that the supects raise their hands and step away from a car were answered by yells and a fusillade of gunshots. The shootout left a young police officer dead, the first Boise police officer ever killed in the line of duty.

Mark Stall, 29, was killed. Craig Brodrick, 30 and Doug Brodrick, 27, also were killed in the shootout.

Stall had worked for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for 5 years. He then moved to Idaho and briefly worked for the Ada County Sheriff’s Department before joining the Boise Police Department. He had been with the department for 3 years.

Police Chief Larry Paulson described Stall as a gentleman who “had faith in God” at an evening news conference at police headquarters.

Stall died while undergoing surgery at a hospital. The second officer was listed in stable condition Saturday afternoon at St. Alphonsus Regional Medical center.

At an earlier news conference, Paulson played an audio tape recording made by one of the two officers who stopped what they said was a suspicious vehicle on a downtown street at 1:20 a.m. The vehicle pulled into the parking lot of Riders’ Bar, a tavern for motorcyclists.

The chief said the patrol unit waited for backup assistance, and several other police units responded.

On the tape, the officer could be heard yelling to the driver to get out of the car and informing him he had been stopped for an improper lane change.

The officer, who was not identified by Paulson, told the driver he was not under arrest, but to step out, raise his arms and lift his jacket up.

“Stop right there. Lift your jacket up for me and turn around. Lift your jacket up for me and turn around, sir,” the tape said.

At that point there was a yell, “Look out!” and a sustained burst of gunfire. Seconds later, someone screamed, “I’ve been hit!” and “Officer down!”

Another voice yells, “Help! Don’t shoot us…”

Officers can be heard calling for an ambulance and trying to calm one of the wounded lawmen.

“Where’re ya shot, buddy?” one officer asks.

“Here,” another answers, “I don’t know, but I mean my legs caved out, my butt…My hip, my shoulders…Killin’ me.”

“OK. You’re going to be OK,” an officer says.

Paulson said the driver pulled a nine-millimeter handgun from a holster and started firing. The passenger had a similar weapon and was cut down as he got out and started firing. Those types of handguns often can hold up to 20 bullets.

Paulson said the men were in a car with Pennsylvania plates. He said both men listed the same Boise address and a preliminary check did not turn up any criminal records. The men were ages 27 and 30, he said.

On the tape, dozens of shots could be heard in a long burst and several individual shots thereafter. Paulson and Ada County Coroner Erwin Sonnenberg said it would take some time to sort out the details of the shooting.

Sonnenberg did an autopsy Saturday on Craig Brodrick, and planned to do the other two autopsies today.

The coroner said blood alcohol tests on Stall and one of the other men were negative and the other man had a low level of alcohol. A drug screen on Craig was negative.

The Boise Police Department has been under community criticism recently for a series of shootings by officers. Joe Filicetti, the department’s legal adviser, said it was the seventh police-involved shooting in the past 18 months.

Carolyn Terteling, president of the Boise City Council, called it “a profound tragedy for our entire community.”

“It is devastating for the family,” she said.

Stall had a wife, a 3-year-old and a 6-year-old daughter.

The state Department of Law Enforcement was immediately called in for the investigation. Paulson said, “It will be a complex investigation…We had a situation that was initiated by the suspects. The officers responded and that’s where we’re at.”