The Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney Matthew Fredback, determined that the actions of the Boise Police officers who shot Adam Lee Cook on September 24, 2024, were justifiable under the law.
The prosecutor reviewed the officers’ on-body video as well as the complete investigation conducted by the Ada County Critical Incident Task Force (CITF) led by the Meridian Police Department.
A brief description of the event from the Prosecuting Attorney is included below and the entire letter is available here.
Cook was the primary suspect in an armed robbery and purposely evaded capture by recklessly eluding police officers and endangering the public. Subsequently, Cook fled on foot through a residential neighborhood and into the backyard of a blameless family, before hiding in and behind their sheds. Cook repeatedly refused to comply with officer commands to surrender and show his hands while leading officers to believe he possessed a firearm. By stepping into view while in a shooter’s position with what appeared to be a gun in his hand, it was certainly reasonable for the officers to believe that Cook posed a threat of death or serious physical injury to the officers. Further, from the officers’ perspectives, engaging Cook in a shootout in the backyard of an occupied home in a residential neighborhood placed the public at risk of death or serious injury. Finally, Cook was dangerous, desperate, and known to have been armed. Cook’s attempt to avoid arrest after committing an armed robbery, created a reasonable threat of death or serious injury to law enforcement or the public. Therefore, deadly force was justified to end the threat presented by Cook.
The public CITF report is available here under the date September 24, 2024.
A video report, with on-body camera video, is available here. The full-length version of the onbody video used to create the linked video report is available upon request free of charge through BPD’s public records request process.
As with all critical incidents, the Boise Police Department conducts an administrative investigation. The City of Boise Office of Police Accountability (OPA) also performs an independent review and issues a public report.
BPD has reviewed that OPA report and its recommendations. BPD respects the recommendations made by OPA and BPD’s internal review made some similar recommendations. Updates to BPD’s training and procedure are underway. The OPA report is expected to be released publicly today.