Shutterstock
Two northern Idaho officers, both from the Sandpoint Police Department, have reportedly been shot in Bonner County and are being taken to a local hospital; it was later clarified that one officer shot this morning is currently in surgery at Kootenai Medical Center and the other officer was transported to Bonner General Hospital. The Sandpoint Police Department asked people to stay inside due to heavy police presence on their social media accounts.
What happened?
It is currently believed that the officers arrived at the scene of the eventual shooting to respond to a person who called the police; during a conversation, a suspect walked out of the residence and began firing. An alert to the area was sent to residents around 3:30 a.m. on Monday morning.
Earlier reports of the story claimed the officers worked for the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office.
A news conference is scheduled to take place in Sandpoint at 9 a.m.
What happens now?
The condition of the police officers is currently unknown and the officers’ names have not been released. With the news of this latest shooting, it is believed that three law enforcement officers have been shot in northern Idaho over the past week.
According to KHQ, the suspect, who believed to have stepped out and fired at officers, is believed to be dead. In earlier reports, it was unclear if the suspect was in police custody.
According to The Spokesman-Review, it was confirmed that the suspect was shot by police:
“Sandpoint Police Chief Corey Coon said at a press conference Monday that officers responded to a service call in the Ridley Village area in west Sandpoint at about 3:10 a.m., when a male suspect stepped out of his residence and began firing at the two officers. Both officers were struck by bullets.”
“The male suspect was killed by returning gun fire from police. The identity of the suspect was not released Monday. Coon couldn’t immediately say whether both officers fired.”
As this story is developing, more information will be updated as made available.