BOISE -- A Boise man was shot and killed by Ada County Sheriff's deputies inside his home Thursday night.
Sheriff's officials say 53-year-old Lee Easter confronted the deputies with a handgun before they fired.
The incident began at 10:48 p.m., when a man called 911 to report that someone was inside his home in the 10000 block of West Spring River Street, then hung up the phone. Dispatchers called the number back, and the man answered, then put the phone down, leaving the line open.
Two deputies who arrived at the home moments later found the front door slightly open. The sheriff's office said they pushed the door open and called out into the house.
The deputies heard someone moving around inside the house, so they went inside to figure out whether the person who had called 911 was in danger.
As they entered the home, another person called 911 and told dispatchers he was worried about the mental health of the man inside the Spring River Street house. The caller said he thought the man may be suicidal, and that he had a gun.
The deputies in the house heard more noises coming from the second floor of the home, so after making sure there was no one on the first floor, they both went to the bottom of the stairs and called up for the person to come down.
Several minutes passed as the deputies waited on the first floor, calling up the stairs. At that point, according to the sheriff's office, Easter yelled "it's too late" from the second floor, and suddenly moved down the stairs pointing a handgun at the deputies.
Both deputies fired their weapons, hitting the man.
The deputies, identified by the sheriff's office as Neil Daigle and Keith James, brought Easter outside, but paramedics were unable to revive him, and he died at the scene.
No one else was inside the home, according to the sheriff's office.
Sheriff's officials say Daigle was hired in 2010, and worked as a jail deputy before moving to patrol in 2013. James was hired last year. Thursday's shooting marks the first critical incident for either man.
Neither deputy was injured.
The Critical Incident Task Force is investigating the shooting, with the Boise Police Department acting as lead agency. Investigators are still looking into how many shots were fired and whether Easter fired his gun.
Easter lived at the home, according to the coroner's office. His official cause of death is still pending
Laura Christianson, who lives several houses down from the home where the shooting took place, said she was getting into bed when the shots rang out.
"I didn't see anything, but I did hear the sirens and three or four gunshots," she said.
Christiansin said she saw the two men who lived in the home around the neighborhood, but didn't not know either of them well. The swarm of police activity was out of the norm for the neighborhood, she said, and left her feeling "a little nervous."
"This is a very quiet neighborhood," she said.