The Gem County Prosecuting Attorney Erick Thomson determined that the actions of the Boise Police officer who shot and injured Harry Andrews on January 3, 2023, were justified under the law.
The prosecutor reviewed the officer’s on-body video as well as the complete investigation conducted by the Ada County Critical Incident Task Force (CITF) led by the Ada County Sheriff’s Office.
On January 3, 2023, at 9:40 am Ada County Dispatch received reports of a male adult walking in the middle of the traffic lanes on westbound Interstate 184 near the Flying Wye. Officers were dispatched with lights and sirens for a safety hazard. Sgt. Rush was first on the scene and located the subject, later identified as Harry Andrews. Andrews was walking along the curve of the westbound bridge of the flyover. Sgt. Rush had his emergency lights activated and parked his vehicle to block traffic. When he exited the vehicle to speak with Andrews, Andrews held up a knife and began to approach Sgt. Rush. Sgt. Rush backed up, drew his service weapon, and gave Andrews commands to stop and get on the ground. Andrews briefly stopped and sat in the roadway but stood back up and again moved toward Sgt. Rush holding the knife. Sgt. Rush discharged his duty weapon two times striking Andrews. Additional officers arrived during the brief interaction and immediately responded to assist with providing medical care, during which time the suspect said, “I wanted to kill you.”
The suspect was identified as Harry Andrews and was arrested upon his release from the hospital. In October 2023, Andrews pled guilty to aggravated assault upon certain personnel with a deadly weapon enhancement. On January 10, 2024, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison with 20 years fixed before being eligible for parole.
The public CITF report will be available here under the January 3, 2023 I-184 incident.
A video report, with on-body camera video, is available on YouTube here. Additional video may be available upon request free of charge through BPD’s public records request process.