Person killed in exchange of gunfire with Boise police officers, police say

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — One person died Wednesday night after exchanging gunfire with police officers on a residential street in Boise, Idaho, according to police.

Reports of an armed person were called in to police just before 10:30 p.m. in the city’s North End, according to the Boise Police Department.

Officers staged nearby while gathering more information and requested additional officers after hearing shots fired, police said.

Responding officers located the suspected shooter and an exchange of gunfire followed, according to police. The person, whose name has not been released, was pronounced dead at the scene by Ada County paramedics, police said. No officers were injured.

Police who were involved in the shooting have been placed on leave pending an investigation by a task force led by the Garden City Police Department, police said.

Parts of the surrounding neighborhood reopened Thursday afternoon after investigators had closed a multiblock area, the Idaho Statesman reported. Police continued to focus on one house and garage Thursday afternoon.

Several neighborhood residents told the newspaper that they saw the suspect walking on 19th Street with a gun.

Keith Cox, 71, said he saw a man walking and carrying what looked like an AK-47 rifle. He said he called 911 around 10:45 p.m. and then hid in a bathroom with his wife. Cox said his house was struck by five bullets — including a round that went through a front window — and his truck was hit twice.

Cox also said he saw the suspect lying on the ground at around 11 p.m., with a rifle next to him.

Tyler Wasden, 44, told the Statesman that from his front windows, he watched the suspect walking on 19th Street with a rifle. The suspect headed toward another street, then came back when pursued by police, he said.

When a police officer and the suspect were about 25 feet (7.6 meters) apart, they fired at each other, Wasden said. It wasn’t clear who fired the first shot, he told the Statesman, but the suspect had turned toward the officer.

Wasden said he then saw officers giving the suspect chest compressions.

Jeff Bosse, 54, said he was outside and heard gunfire and sirens.

“I dropped to the ground because I didn’t want to get hit,” Bosse said.