The Gooding County Prosecuting Attorney, Trevor Misselding, cleared Boise Police Officer C. Feldner in the June 24, 2023, shooting death of Payton Wasson, and declined to file charges. The prosecutor came to this conclusion after conducting a thorough review of video footage, the Ada County Critical Incident Task Force (CITF) investigation and analyzing relevant law.
Based on this information, Mr. Misselding stated in part:
. . . The facts in this case reveal that Wasson was fleeing from a suspected drug deal, grabbed toward a gun in his waistband as officers confronted him, fled from police and drew a gun as he ran, refused lawful orders to stop and drop his gun, and was running toward a crowded area when the BPD officer fired at him.
Accordingly, per Mr. Misselding, Officer Feldner “had cause to believe that Wasson, through his unlawful and potentially violent acts, was a continuing and immediate danger to law enforcement officers who were engaged in the lawful performance of their duties, and a danger to the public at large as he fled, armed, down a public street.”
A description of the event and a letter from the Prosecuting Attorney is available here.
Echoing the prosecutor’s comments, Ron Wineger, Chief of Police, stated:
Situations like this one rapidly unfold, and officers tasked with keeping our downtown entertainment district safe, must make very difficult decisions in a matter of seconds. Our officers do not have the option of not intervening when such a person, armed and desperate to avoid apprehension, is headed toward a crowd of people. It is a tragic circumstance whenever officers must deploy deadly force, particularly when someone loses their life, and those involved, including the officers, will be impacted forever.
We are grateful for the thorough investigation and review of this incident, which took a matter of seconds to unfold, but was a very complicated and dynamic situation, requiring countless hours of critical review and evaluation. I believe the prosecutorial review resulted in the right conclusion in this matter.
The public report from the CITF investigation will be available here next week.
A video report, which includes on-body camera video, is available here. Additional video may also be available upon request free of charge through BPD’s public records request process.