Police Track Down Shootout Suspect Man Arrested In Downtown Cda Apartment

Three Coeur d’Alene schools were locked down and a few downtown homes evacuated Wednesday as police tracked down a felon accused of shooting at an Idaho Fish and Game officer.

Police arrested Martin Adam Schorzman, 40, around 3:30 p.m. in an apartment at the corner of 16th Street and Elm Avenue.

They also arrested tenant Kathy Jones, 49, for harboring a fugitive, according to Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies.

“He was hiding from us. That’s why he was there,” said Idaho State Police Capt. Wayne Longo.

Schorzman, who has an extensive criminal history in Kootenai County, led police on a 24-hour manhunt after he and another man allegedly shot at Fish and Game Officer Clinton Rand on a rural Benewah County road Tuesday afternoon.

Police believe it all began as a raid for drug supplies. Two men, believed to be Schorzman and Elton Joe Roberts, 22, of Athol, stole two gallons of anhydrous ammonia from a Farmington, Wash., farmer. The chemical is used as a fertilizer - but also in making an illegal drug, methamphetamine.

Police said Rand, a conservation officer, stopped to help two men in a Jeep station wagon parked on the side of the road outside DeSmet, Idaho, thinking they needed assistance.

The two men allegedly opened fire, hitting Rand’s truck twice.

Rand shot back - firing at least two bullets, said Benewah County Sheriff Joe Blackburn.

Rand was not injured. The men took off on foot into nearby timber, deputies said.

A search dog found Roberts on Tuesday evening, but police couldn’t find the second man.

Police say that man, who they believe is Schorzman, stole a farmer’s pickup and drove to Tekoa, Wash. From there, he may have hitched a ride to Coeur d’Alene, Blackburn said.

Idaho State Police got a tip Tuesday night that Schorzman was in the Coeur d’Alene area.

Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies, Coeur d’Alene Police and Idaho State Police investigators began surveillance of the apartment building at 1520 Elm early Wednesday.

By 2 p.m., streets were closed off in the area and school children at Lakes Middle School - just a few blocks away - were told to stay inside.

Police believed Schorzman was armed, but did not say late Wednesday whether they found any weapons in the apartment.

On Tuesday, police said they found a 9mm handgun, a .22-caliber rifle and a boxed meth lab in the Jeep station wagon.

Students at the middle school and Fernan Elementary stayed at school until 3:45 p.m. That’s when teachers were notified that Schorzman had been arrested.

“Certainly, we don’t know what that individual will do,” Lakes Middle School teacher Paul Ive said during the lockdown. “The prospect of him taking a student hostage - we can’t take that risk.”

Students remained calm - playing ball in the gym and hanging out in hallways - as their frantic parents arrived to bring them home.

“I’m thinking my daughter is in danger,” said Malinda Schlappy, who came to pick up her 13-year-old daughter, Alesha, from Lakes Middle School. “All I’m worried about is getting my daughter out.”

Students at Bryan Elementary School were also kept inside.

Two months ago in the same neighborhood, a fire erupted in a methamphetamine lab near 18th and Pennsylvania Avenue.

A church preschool and surrounding neighbors were evacuated. That day, students at Fernan Elementary were kept inside during recess.

“This is where we live. What are you going to do?” asked Marilyn Smith, who lives on 17th Street just south of Pennsylvania.

While Coeur d’Alene residents watched police cars and TV satellite trucks swarm the area, Elton Roberts appeared in First District Court in Benewah County.

Roberts appeared before Magistrate Patrick McFadden on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and trafficking methamphetamine. Bail was set at $50,000.