Community bids farewell to teenager
BOISE – Friends and classmates of a high school student killed by a police officer last weekend say they are still trying to sort through their feelings about the incident.
Matthew Jones, 16, died from gunshot wounds last Saturday after he brandished an antique military rifle with a fixed bayonet at Boise police Officer Andrew S. Johnson.
“I just think everybody is really sad about it,” said Torrey McConnell, a 17-year-old senior, sitting outside after a memorial service at Boise High School on Thursday. “I think it is causing a lot of people to rethink what they are doing with their lives.”
“It’s just so shocking and crazy. I never thought we would be here for something like this,” said 17-year-old Tony Shallat. “He was just a fun kid. I think people are really sad, but they are starting to recover a little bit now.”
During Thursday’s memorial, Jones, 16, was remembered as a fiercely intelligent, mischievous teen who loved history, friends and family.
“He took life and molded it to him,” said John Brookover, one of six friends who served as Matthew’s pallbearers. “He could put a grin on anybody’s face.”
Friends described Matthew as a prankster who drank a can of Slim-Fast every morning even though he was skinny. They said he constantly needled his friends just to cause mischief, then got himself out of trouble with a smile.
Family friend Larry Stamps and the Rev. Mike Black spoke to more than 500 people who attended the memorial about the pain felt when a life with such rich potential is lost.
“When parents bury their kids, they are burying the future,” Stamps said.
“Today is not a day for blame and fault,” Black said. “Today is a day to begin healing.”
Blackburn and Stamps urged the teens and parents at the service to open a dialogue with each other and to avoid the temptations of drug use.
“There is no level of drug use which is safe and casual,” Blackburn said, telling teens that they should learn from Matthew’s story and the role drug use played in his death. “If you fail to do so, you will disgrace his memory.”
Earlier this week, Matthew’s family said he had received professional counseling, drug treatment and the “tireless intervention and concern of his parents.”
Police were called to the Jones’ home in the Boise highlands around 5 p.m. Saturday by the teen’s father, Bruce Jones, who reported that his son was out of control and punching holes in the ceiling with a bayonet.
Bruce Jones also told police the rifle was not loaded, according to police reports.
Johnson was the first officer to arrive at the home.
Police said the teen came out of the bushes and rushed at Johnson with the rifle and bayonet. Police say Johnson moved away and was hit in the back with the bayonet before he turned around, warned the teen to drop the gun, then fired four times. All four bullets hit Matthew; the fatal shot hit him in the chest, the Ada County coroner said.
However, Bruce Jones recalls the events differently. In a statement released earlier this week, Bruce Jones said his son never got closer to Johnson than six feet, and that the officer fired without warning Matthew to drop the gun.
The multi-agency Ada County Critical Incident Task Force is investigating the shooting with the Meridian Police Department as the lead agency. Boise Community Ombudsman Pierce Murphy also is investigating.
At a news conference this week with Tibbs and Boise Mayor Dave Bieter, Blackburn said the family does not consider Johnson to be “legally or morally culpable for the death of their son,” as he was “confronted with a situation that would have presented a challenge for even the most capable or experienced law officer.”