Dad Calls Killings ‘An Execution’ Brothers Shot Dead In Gunbattle With Boise Police Moved From Pennsylvania In Recent Months

Idaho held promise for Craig Brodrick.

Three months ago, the college dropout and gun collector - having failed to become a Pennsylvania state trooper or deputy U.S. marshal - leapt from the nest of his parents at 30 years old and landed on the other side of the continent.

Boise had higher mountains to climb, more money to make and just as many target ranges to keep his shooting skills sharp.

Just a month ago, he persuaded his kid brother, Doug Brodrick, 27 - who also fell short on the state police test - to join him.

“We were devastated when they moved, but they really loved it out there,” said Martin Brodrick, the father of the two men. “They had passed through there in their travels around the country, and Craig really wanted to go back.”

But the two brothers and a Boise police officer died early Saturday morning during a protracted shootout on a downtown corner. Officer Mark Stall became the first Boise officer ever to die on the job. A second officer was wounded but is recovering.

Ada County Coroner Erwin Sonnenberg said the autopsy showed Stall suffered one wound from a 9 mm pistol, the type of gun both brothers were using. The slug entered his right side just under his arm and less than an inch above the top edge of his bulletproof vest. Sonnenberg said he bled to death.

Specifics of the firefight were still being withheld as detectives continued their investigation. But the coroner said Craig Brodrick was shot at least 12 times and possibly as many as 25 while his brother was hit by at least seven gunshots. Doug Brodrick died of wounds to the head, heart and liver. Sonnenberg said the combination of so many wounds killed Craig Brodrick.

He also said there was evidence that Craig was using Prozac and “three or four other” antidepressant drugs, and investigators were looking into the source of them and what effect - if any - they might have had on his actions Saturday morning.

The news usually was good in thrice-weekly calls the brothers made home to western Pennsylvania, including reports of boom times in the Idaho economy. Doug hoped to return to his draftsman’s trade. Craig was promoted at a plastics factory in his first month there and helped Doug find a job in a different department.

Their record includes nothing worse than traffic tickets, and their family wants to know why they are dead.

Authorities said officers pulled over Craig’s primer-painted 1977 Impala because it had changed lanes without signaling.

The Brodrick family does not believe the brothers started the gunfight and question why police needed to pump so many shots into them.

“Someone will be down with two or three shots. After that, if you keep shooting, it’s aggravated murder,” said an uncle, Derry police Chief Larry Brodrick.

Boise Police Lt. Jim Tibbs said the number of shots fired by officers or the number of times the two suspects were hit have yet to be made public.

“But the fact is there were a number of officers there,” Tibbs said. “There were seven officers present. It is my understanding that six of the seven officers returned fire. … The officers will neutralize the threat as long as that threat is present.”

Larry Brodrick, however, questioned why seven officers were needed for a traffic stop.

“Around here, it would be hard to get seven officers together that quick for a lot of things,” said Brodrick, a police chief for 20 years.

The brothers helped their uncle prepare targets for police certification tests and often cleaned officers’ weapons. He said they had a healthy respect for police.

Martin Brodrick said his sons “were murdered by those officers. It was an execution. I don’t get it. I don’t see them drawing their weapons and opening fire on seven police officers.”

He said his only two children were loving sons, not cop killers.

“They took care of this place while they were here. The yard, they did all that,” Martin Brodrick said. “They were all I had, and they’re gone.”

Police found enough weapons and bullets in the brothers’ Idaho apartment to cover three table tops, including a machete, which their father said was used to clear a path on hikes. Also seized were books on converting a semiautomatic weapon to an automatic one, a bomb-making pamphlet and survival guides.

The father said the books were “things they just picked up when they went to gun shows.” He said Doug briefly tried deer hunting but found that he did not like to kill.