Boise police officers are currently searching for two suspects following a shooting at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center shortly after 2 a.m.
According to a Boise Police press release, the scene has been secured, and police are looking for a grey four-door sedan, possibly a Honda Civic with ID plates. One of the two suspects was identified as Skylar Meade, an escaped IDOC inmate, and the other suspect has not been identified yet.
Meade has been serving time for aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer with a firearm enhancement and has several previous felony convictions including possession of a controlled substance, grand theft, and introduction of a controlled substance into a correctional facility. He was incarcerated in October 2016 and was set to be released in 2036, according to the release.
He is considered armed and dangerous. Police urge if you come into contact with him, do not approach.
Meade was being prepared to be transported back to IDOC when an unidentified suspect fired at officers, hitting two of them. Officers responded to the hospital reports of an active shooter, with one officer firing his service weapon at an armed individual near the hospital entrance. That individual was later determined to be an IDOC employee. He was not seriously injured and is currently being treated for his injuries, the release said.
In total, three IDOC officers were injured this morning. One officer was shot by the suspect. He is in critical, but stable condition. The second officer shot by the suspect has serious but non-life-threatening injuries. The third officer was injured by gunfire from a responding BPD officer and received non-life-threatening injuries, according to the release.
Boise police are leading the search for the two suspects. The Ada County Sheriff’s Office is leading the Critical Incident Taskforce investigation into the officer-related shooting.
In a press release, Chief Ron Winegar of the Boise Police stated: “This brazen, violent and apparently coordinated attack on Idaho Department of Corrections personnel, to facilitate an escape of a dangerous inmate, was carried out right in front of the Emergency Department, where people come for medical help, often in the direst circumstances.”
Chief Winegar is grateful that this incident hasn’t led to the loss of life, and that the Boise Police are closely monitoring the injured IDOC officers, according to the release. He urges anyone who may have contact with the suspect to call 911 immediately and to not confront either suspect.
Ben DeWitt can be reached at [email protected] or on X @BenDeWitt321