The Ada County Critical Incident Task Force is continuing to investigate the officer-involved shooting from Monday, Oct. 25th on N. Milwaukee Street.
All officers involved in the Critical Incident have been interviewed as part of the investigation and we can release more details.
As previously stated, at 1:50 pm on Monday, Oct. 25th multiple Boise Police officers responded with lights and sirens to the Boise Mall for a report of a shooting. Two officers riding together in a vehicle quickly located a person matching a description of the suspect behind a business on the 500 block of N. Milwaukee. As they drove in the suspect’s general direction, the suspect began firing a weapon at the patrol vehicle. The officer in the passenger seat quickly exited the vehicle to take cover and move to a better position. The officer in the driver’s seat was wearing a BPD logo ball cap as part of his police uniform and that hat was struck with gunfire from the suspect. A photo of his hat and the windshield are included below. Metal and glass fragments also cut the officer’s face. The officer continued driving toward the suspect and fired back at the suspect before the suspect ran behind a nearby dumpster and officers heard an additional shot fired.
One of the initial officers to respond was on a police motorcycle. As he drove up on the scene and saw the suspect firing in his direction, he purposely laid down his motorcycle and took a position of cover behind it. The suspect was firing west toward Milwaukee which is where a victim in a white SUV was shot and injured. All initial responding officers were in marked vehicles and in police uniforms.
The officer who fired his weapon at the suspect is identified as Officer C. Dance, an 11-year law enforcement veteran who joined the Boise Police Department in May of 2021. He is on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure following a critical incident. The information provided in this news release is considered preliminary pending the results of the Critical Incident Task Force Investigation.
Update timeline from inside the mall: Before the incident began, mall security video shows the suspect was wearing a backpack and open carrying a weapon in the mall for about 40 minutes while he walked around and ate in the food court. Boise Police was not called during this time. Evidence shows that when the security officer contacted the suspect, they spoke, the suspect began to walk away then turned back and shot the security officer. The suspect then continued firing as he walked. One bullet hit a man’s jacket as his wife pulled him away. Additional shots went down a hallway toward juveniles who were not hit. The suspect also fired multiple times at Mr. Padilla and the escalator he was riding as well as toward the floor where two women were struck. All of the victims who survived their injuries have been released from the hospital and are recovering.
The investigation into the suspect’s motive remains ongoing. While there will not be formal charges brought against the deceased suspect, we are looking into questions of whether he may have targeted anyone for any specific reason. Information was shared with Boise Police Officers several months ago about Bergquist’s concerning behavior and beliefs witnessed by BPD officers and other area law enforcement. None of his actions at that time were considered criminal under Idaho law. There were also no actionable, specific threats.
