Man Killed In Police Shooting

Man Killed In Police Shooting

By Local News 8

POSTED: 1:23 pm MST December 31, 2010
UPDATED: 1:44 pm MST December 31, 2010

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho -- The Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office said Idaho Falls police shot and killed a man after shots were fired at a house in Idaho Falls on Thursday.
Police were called to 957 Royal Avenue after reports of a man armed with a weapon were called in. Upon arrival, officers made contact with 28-year-old Nicholas Barker, Sgt. James Foster said.
Authorities said shots were then exchanged and Barker was later pronounced dead at the scene. No officers were injured in the shooting.
A Critical Incident Task Force with detectives from multiple agencies, will investigate the shooting. Foster said when the investigation is completed, results will be forwarded to the Bonneville County Prosecutor’s Office for review.
Foster said as part of Idaho Falls Police Department protocol, all of the officers involved in the shooting have been place on administrative leave until the investigation is completed.

News Channel 6

By: KPVI Staff

The Bonneville County Sheriff's office is releasing new details about Thursday's officer-involved shooting.

Sgt. James Foster says Idaho Falls Police responded to the home on Royal Avenue after a report of a man with a gun around 6:30 PM. They contacted 28-year-old Nicholas Barker and during that time shots were fired. Barker died at the scene. No officers were injured.

In following protocol detectives from multiple agencies were called in to investigate. When the investigation is complete it be handed to the Bonneville County Prosecutor to decide if any charges are warranted.

All IFPD officers involved in the shooting are on administrative leave until the investigation is complete. That move also follows protocol.

Investigators are still on the scene this morning at an officer involved shooting that took place Thursday night.

The home is in the 900 block of Royal Avenue behind the Pinecrest Golf Course.



I sure hope their is more to this story than "Man armed with a weapon"..........

jimd_21 said:

I sure hope their is more to this story than "Man armed with a weapon"..........

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No kidding! I used to carry in Idaho all the time.

Officer Involved Shooting Update
Page Last Updated: Wednesday January 5, 2011 2:58pm MST


Reporter: Aaron Kunz

The Bonneville County Sheriffs Office released some new details on last weeks officer involved shooting.

Sergeant James Foster told reporters Wednesday afternoon that officers with the Idaho Falls Police Department responded to 957 Royal on December 30th to the report of an armed and possible suicidal male.

When officers arrived, they found Nicholas Barker armed with a .40 Calibre Glock handgun. A total of seven officers were at the home that evening and made contact with Barker. Lt. Curtis Stacey attempted to subdue Barker by using a less-than-lethal 12-gauge shotgun loaded with a bean bag. That ended up according to Sgt. Foster to be uneffective.

Barker then raised his glock handgun at officers and pointed it - as he did officers Scott Killian, Joel Tisdale and Mark Goodman discharged their duty handguns hitting Barker. Barker died on scene as a result of the gunshots.

The 9 agency task force has thus far determined that Nicholas Barker did not exchange gun fire with the officers. Sergeant Foster says law enforcement officers are allowed to discharge their duty weapons to protect themselves or members of the public. But ultimately that decision will have to be made by the task force then ruled on by the Bonneville County Prosecutor.

With the 9 agencies involved, 24 investigators are working on this Eastern Idaho Shooting Task Force that was implimented a year ago. Sgt. Foster has confirmed that this is the first time the task force protocol has been used. The task force was an effort by area law enforcement to give officer involved shootings the manpower needed to conduct a fair and transparent investigation to the officers and the public.

In a short news release, Sgt. Foster writes "At no time has this office ever deceived the public or withheld information when a case is complete. We stand on our integrity and commend the agencies involved for their professionalism and dedication to justice."

Idaho Falls Police Department responded to 957 Royal on December 30th to the report of an armed and possible suicidal male.

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Good thing they rushed in and "killed him", otherwise he might have "killed himself". And THAT would have been against the law.

marionmedic said:

Good thing they rushed in and "killed him", otherwise he might have "killed himself". And THAT would have been against the law.

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I didn't gather from the article that they rushed in to kill him. Its prudent to have guns drawn when facing someone who is armed and threatening harm to himself. The deployment of the less lethal shotgun shows that they were trying to resolve the issue without a loss of life, but the suicidal person escalated the situation by pointing the weapon at the officers.

A less lethal shotgun can deployed at a greater range than a taser. A less lethal weapon should be covered by lethal weapons in case the situation dictates a lethal response. Unfortunately this looks like suicide by cop. Its a sad situation all the way around.

I didn't see anywhere in the news article that it was a suicide attempt. What I saw was some messed up LEO work. They coulda shoulda used OC spray which really disorients an individual. Mind you I'm not trying to armchair quarterback this but I think just the use of the beanbag was wrong. They were already in a lethal force situation but in my opinion could have disarmed him with the use of pepper spray. Just me sayin' it.

KansasMustang said:

I didn't see anywhere in the news article that it was a suicide attempt. What I saw was some messed up LEO work. They coulda shoulda used OC spray which really disorients an individual. Mind you I'm not trying to armchair quarterback this but I think just the use of the beanbag was wrong. They were already in a lethal force situation but in my opinion could have disarmed him with the use of pepper spray. Just me sayin' it.

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What's the effective range of "pepper spray" -- a few feet? A couple of yards? How close would an officer have to get to an armed and non-compliant suspect in order to spray him? Would YOU have gotten that close to an armed and non-compliant suspect?

palerider116 said:

I didn't gather from the article that they rushed in to kill him. Its prudent to have guns drawn when facing someone who is armed and threatening harm to himself. The deployment of the less lethal shotgun shows that they were trying to resolve the issue without a loss of life, but the suicidal person escalated the situation by pointing the weapon at the officers.

A less lethal shotgun can deployed at a greater range than a taser. A less lethal weapon should be covered by lethal weapons in case the situation dictates a lethal response. Unfortunately this looks like suicide by cop. Its a sad situation all the way around.

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There ya go bein' all rational and stuff.