PAYETTE, Idaho (AP) - A 24-year-old man shot twice in the torso during an exchange of gunfire with a law enforcement officer in southwestern Idaho has died.
Jose Rodriquez-Moncada of Fruitland died Thursday night after an afternoon shootout in Payette at a busy gas station that resulted in a Payette County sheriff’s corporal being shot in the leg, authorities said.
Idaho State Police say a young boy in Rodriquez-Moncada’s vehicle wasn’t injured. Police didn’t give an age or say where the boy was taken.
Both men were flown to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise after the shooting, Payette Police Chief Mark Clark said.
Cpl. Jason Jones was released from the hospital Thursday evening after receiving treatment, Clark said.
An initial call reported shots fired near the May Roberts Elementary School in Ontario, Oregon, near the Idaho border, Idaho State Police said. Ontario Police Chief Mark Alexander said the department received a report of a man firing a handgun into the air.
A witness provided a description of the man as well as a description of the vehicle he was driving and license plate.
About 2:30 p.m., Jones spotted the vehicle at a busy Maverick store in Payette and called for backup, Idaho State Police said.
Jones pulled up behind the vehicle at a gas pump and told the driver to get out, Idaho State Police said. Before backup arrived, police said, the driver got out but ignored additional commands, instead reaching into the vehicle.
The driver pulled out a handgun and started shooting at Jones, who returned fire, police said. “Within a few minutes of giving the commands, the suspect came out of the car (and) started shooting at the deputy multiple times,” Clark said.
It’s unclear if the boy in Rodriquez-Moncada’s vehicle was with him during the reported shooting in Ontario.
The Maverick store was hit by several rounds, and some witnesses reported close calls, Clark said.
“The store was absolutely full of people,” he said. “It’s usually one of the busiest places in town.”
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