Idaho police shot, killed armed man in his own yard

Police fatally shot an armed man in his own backyard after mistaking him for a suspect during a pursuit in Idaho on Monday, police said.

The man who was shot and killed was not the suspect, who was found after the incident hiding in a nearby shed, Idaho Falls Police Department Chief Bryce Johnson said during a press conference.

An officer had earlier spoken briefly with the man who was mistaken for the suspect and fatally shot, Johnson said.

The suspect had fled from a vehicle into a residential neighborhood after a Bonneville County sheriff’s deputy attempted to make a traffic stop just after midnight, Johnson said.

A warrant check found the suspect had warrants for felony battery on an officer and two failure-to-appear warrants as well as a history of violent interaction with law enforcement, according to Johnson.

The chief said that several members of law enforcement responded to the area to search for the suspect following a broadcast from the deputy who tried to make the traffic stop.

A resident told police they saw the suspect running through their yard and that they believed that the suspect had a gun, Johnson said.

The chief told reporters that the passenger of the vehicle that the suspect had fled from shared a message with officers allowing them to see the GPS location of the suspect, Johnson said, leading them to a home where they found a man holding a firearm in the backyard.

Deputies surrounded the yard and told the man to drop the gun before an Idaho Falls officer fatally shot the man in his own yard, according to Johnson.