Idaho trooper kills man during struggle for gun

LOOKOUT PASS – An Idaho State Police trooper shot and killed a man during a struggle over a handgun Wednesday along Interstate 90 just west of the Idaho-Montana state line.

The trooper, whose name has not been released, was not injured in the confrontation that took place around noon, said Lt. Stuart Miller of the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department. A Shoshone County sheriff’s deputy also was present.

Both the trooper and deputy have been placed on administrative leave while the Kootenai County Critical Investigative Team investigates the shooting.

The man who was shot was in his late 20s and has not yet been identified, Miller said. He was taken to Shoshone Medical Center in Kellogg, where he was declared dead.

The man was in an orange Toyota Scion with a Montana license plate, parked in a turnout along the interstate’s eastbound lane. The deputy responded to a call for a welfare check on the vehicle, and the trooper was backing up the deputy, Miller said.

The man had a handgun and a struggle ensued over the weapon, Miller said. It’s not yet clear if both the trooper and deputy were involved in the altercation, but the trooper disengaged from the struggle and fired his weapon, striking the man, Miller said.

No one else was in the Scion.

The shooting happened near milepost 73, close to the Lookout Pass Ski Area. One eastbound lane remained closed for several hours.

Investigators are asking anyone who saw the vehicle earlier or who has any information about the incident to contact the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department at (208) 446-1300.