BOISE, Idaho —
On Monday, the Office of Police Accountability (OPA) finished a case review regarding the actions of the Boise Police Department (BPD) during an incident concerning officers shooting a suspect in Fall of 2021.
The review focused on the BPD’s use of force and the use of firearms in the line of duty.
OPA’s report states in the Fall of 2021 BPD “were attempting to locate an adult male subject who had an arrest warrant and was believed to be suicidal.”
The report goes on to state that the man was located behind a building in downtown Boise. When the BPD officers approached the man, he quickly stood up and backed away from the officers then “while facing one of the officers, the subject quickly presented himself in a shooting stance with a dark object in his right hand outstretched in the direction of one of the officers.”
Two of the responding BPD officers shot the man.
BPD officers and paramedics then attempted to save the man’s life and transported him to a nearby hospital; however, he ultimately succumbed to his injuries and died at the hospital.
OPA’s report also makes note of the presence of BPD’s Crisis Intervention Team “however, due to the subject response upon seeing the officers – there was no opportunity for dialogue.”
The report concludes that the two BPD officers under investigation were exonerated.
OPA’s report does not include any specific names, dates, times, or locations. However, the few given details in the report, share similarities with another BPD incident that occurred “during the afternoon in the late Fall of 2021.”
On October 27, Ada County Dispatch called BPD about a possibly suicidal man, who was later identified as 26-year-old Zachary Snow. Officers were advised that Snow had a felony failure-to-appear warrant and would run if he saw police. According to a BPD summary of the incident, officers planned to check on Snow's welfare and arrest him on the warrant.
Last month, BPD released body camera and surveillance video footage that showed officers arriving on scene and the events that led up to Snow being shot and killed.
Officers found Snow in a parking lot near Capitol and Myrtle. As the officers arrived on scene, Snow stood up, backed away from them and "took a defensive posture and refused commands to show his hands. He pulled a hard black object from his rear waistband and took a shooter's stance imitating that he had a gun. Officers believed he had a gun in hand and that they were going to be fired upon. Two officers then fired their weapons in self-defense," BPD said.
BPD said the object Snow had pulled from his waistband was later determined to be a portable speaker.
KTVB reached out to both OPA and BPD. Neither would confirm that the report was about the incident with Zachary Snow.
Boise Police Dept. response to incident involving Zachary Snow on Oct. 27, 2021
Watch more crime news:
See the latest Treasure Valley crime news in our YouTube playlist:
