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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Police shoot man near Timberline High School in Boise after he ‘appeared’ to fire gun

By Shaun Goodwin and Sally Krutzig Idaho Statesman

A Boise Police Department officer and an Ada County sheriff’s deputy each fired their guns at a man Wednesday morning after he “appeared to discharge” a weapon that he had pointed at them following a pursuit, interim Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar said at a press conference.

The man was struck at least once by a shot and apprehended after trying to flee, according to Winegar, who said he was taken to a Boise hospital and then would be booked into the Ada County Jail.

The incident began in Star and ended at the intersection of E. Boise Avenue and Apple Street, near Timberline High School in Southeast Boise, police said. The suspect was “reportedly headed to Boise from Oregon and was sending his family threatening messages,” according to a Boise Police Department news release.

Police responded to the area near family members’ homes in Southeast Boise, the release said.

The chase took place down State Street, through Eagle and into Boise, before diverting toward the southeast part of the city.

“This was a very fluid situation,” Winegar said.

Winegar said police located a BB gun “that looked very very real” near the site of the shooting. It wasn’t clear whether that was the gun the man had, the chief said.

The Boise Police Department first sent a tweet out about the shooting at 11:06 a.m., stating that there was no ongoing threat but an officer-involved incident had taken place.

Police confirmed that school operations were continuing as normal and the scene was secure. An email from the Boise School District to parents of Timberline High School and White Pine Elementary students said police notified the district that the shooting occurred at approximately 10:45 a.m., and students were “kept safe as school operations continued.”

White Pine is located behind Timberline on Linden Street, separated only by a baseball field.

Patrol vehicles with the Ada County Sheriff’s Office and the Boise Police Department, as well as many officers, detectives and investigators, were still at the scene Wednesday afternoon.

Neither the Boise police officer nor the Ada County deputy was injured, and both have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard policy after a shooting, the release said. The Meridian Police Department is leading the Critical Incident Task Force investigation into the shooting.