By Canadian Press

3 Idaho corrections officers shot as gunman breaks an inmate out of Boise hospital, police say

Mar 20, 2024 | 10:40 AM

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A suspect staged a brazen attack to break a prison inmate out of a Boise hospital overnight, shooting and seriously wounding two Idaho corrections officers, police said. A third was also shot and wounded when arriving police mistook the officer for the suspect and opened fire.

One officer was in critical but stable condition, another has serious but non-life-threatening injuries and the third was not seriously injured when mistakenly shot by an arriving Boise police office, the city said in a statement.

The gunfire happened after corrections officers took inmate Skylar Meade to St. Alphonse hospital for medical treatment at 2:15 a.m. As they were preparing to return to the prison, an unknown suspect began shooting at officers, striking two of them.

Boise police responded to the report of an active shooter, and one officer fired at an armed person near the entrance, which was later determined to be a corrections officer.

The search continues for the escaped inmate, Skylar Meade, and the accomplice, who were believed to have left the area in a grey sedan with Idaho plates.

WHAT'S ON

Here is what's on this weekend in Medicine Hat and area: Dec. 13-15

16h ago

IN THE COMMUNITY

Medicine Hat's Mustard Seed adding new shelter spaces at Alberta government's request

Dec 12, 2024

HOLIDAYS

Medicine Hat Kiwanis hosting Christmas dinner, applications due Friday

Dec 12, 2024

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Police in Boise, Idaho, said officers were involved in a shooting at a hospital early Wednesday and are searching for two suspects, one of them a prison inmate who escaped from the campus.

Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center had been on temporary lockdown, police said.

A hospital spokesperson said a “shooting incident” happened in the ambulance bay by its emergency department at 2:15 a.m.

“All patients and staff are safe, the medical center campus is safe and secure, and has resumed normal operations. The Emergency Department itself is currently under temporary lockdown while the Boise Police Department completes the investigation,” Leticia Ramirez said in a statement.

She said as an added precaution, “we have increased security on campus, all entrances to the hospital will be closed” and monitored by hospital security until further notice.

Phone and email messages seeking more information were left for police.

Police said in the news release that they were looking for two suspects traveling in a gray four-door sedan, possibly a Honda Civic, with Idaho plates.

They said one suspect is escaped inmate Skylar Meade, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2017 for firing shots at a Twin Falls sheriff’s sergeant during a high-speed chase.

Ramirez declined to comment when asked about Meade, deferring to the police department.

The Associated Press