A knife, a fake gun, and a mental health crisis. Investigation details 3 fatal shootings

One had a fake gun. Another had a mental health crisis. A third man threatened the police with a knife. All of them were killed by police firing.

The Canyon County Critical Incident Task Force is investigating three fatal shootings — Which clears all the seven officials involved- was completed about a year ago, but neither the investigators nor the agencies involved told the public.

The Canyon County Sheriff’s Office investigated two of the three shootings, and the Idaho State Police investigated the other. The shootings occurred in the summer of 2021 and early 2022, involving the Nampa Police Department and the Owyhee County Sheriff’s Office.

Both the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office and the Nampa Police Department told the Idaho Statesman that they do not have a practice of notifying the public when a CITF investigation is complete. The Owyhee County Sheriff’s Office and Idaho State Police did not respond to The Statesman’s requests for comment.

In Ada County, the Boise Police Department typically issues a press release when a CITF investigation is concluded, and the Ada County Sheriff’s Office Created a website Where the complete report is uploaded.

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Simpson was fatally shot after a mental health crisis

Don Simpson promised a Canyon County Sheriff’s Office deputy that he would call her if she needed anything. Less than 3 hours later, the 51-year-old woman was shot in the head by three Nampa police officers, according to the CITF report.

Around 9:30 a.m. on July 16, 2021, two Canyon County deputies found Simpson’s navy blue Jeep Patriot near Lake Lowell Park in Nampa, after his stepdaughter called police concerned that Simpson was suffering from a mental health crisis, according to a police report. from

Deputies Justin Wright and Trayton Meyers made contact with Simpson, who said he was off work, the report said. Meyers noticed that there were several unused shotgun shells in the cup holder of Simpson’s car, but officers did not see a shotgun in the car.

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Wright eventually let Simpson go because he said he didn’t meet the criteria to be placed on hold. Simpson’s stepdaughter told Wright that Simpson was diagnosed with bipolar mania after his wife died in 2019 and it turned into schizophrenia. The stepdaughter also said Simpson was not taking his medication.

Around noon, the Nampa Police Department dispatched four officers to a neighborhood on Takewood Street south of Nampa after receiving a report that Simpson was breaking into his mother’s home, according to an Idaho State Police Critical Incident Task Force report.

Three Nampa officers – Ricky Jodro, Cole Lowe and John Guzzu – located, chased and eventually shot and killed Simpson. Nampa police patrol Sgt. Michael Phillips was also at the scene but did not fire his weapon.

Guju, during his interview with state police, said that his earlier conversations with Simpson were an “immediate red flag” and that he had a “funny feeling that the current call was not going to go well.”

Guju and another officer approach Simpson’s car and tell him that he is under arrest because he has an active warrant. Guju then opens the back door of Simpson’s Jeep, as he starts his engine and flees the neighborhood – hitting Jodro’s patrol car on the way.

Officers chased Simpson about a mile and a half down Mulberry Lane. When Jodro and Lowe approached Simpson, he fired at least once at them. The officers returned fire, firing between 17 and 20 rounds into Simpson.

Police found a shotgun in Simpson’s lap and later a black pistol in the car. Simpson’s stepdaughter told the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office that Simpson was not allowed to possess a firearm because of a previous felony conviction.

Simpson was taken to St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, where he died of a gunshot wound to the head around 3:30 p.m. Earlier Statesman reporting and an autopsy report from the Ada County Coroner’s Office.

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Police fired 20 rounds at 53-year-old Nampa

According to the CITF report, it took less than 30 seconds for two Nampa police officers to shoot and kill 53-year-old Vladislav Fomin. Officers in their interview at the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office said Fomin pointed a gun at them and a Nampa couple.

According to a narrative report written by the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office, on August 26, 2021, around 1 p.m., the Nampa Police Department received a call to report an aggravated assault in the area of ​​South Elder and East Lincoln streets, near Northwest Nazarene University. A couple, who were driving in search of their lost dog, called police when they said Fomin “chased the gun and started swinging it around” as he walked toward them.

According to the report, Nampa Police Officers Cade Renner and Roger Holser located Fomin in the driveway of 325 S. Banner St. at 1:06 p.m. Holser was one of six officers who fired Richard Bigby-Garcia Two months ago in July 2021.

Renner said in his interview that as he approached his car, Fomin turned aggressively toward them and pointed the gun at Holscher. He described the gun as a black semi-automatic handgun.

Within 30 seconds of finding Fomin, officers fatally shot him. Fomin died at the scene from his injuries after life-saving measures failed.

According to the autopsy report, the officers fired a total of 20 rounds, two of which fatally struck Fomin in the head and heart. Another bullet hit his right shoulder.

Holscher and Renner said in their statement that they thought Fomin’s gun had something off after the shooting. Holscher noted that the gun felt lighter than it did when it was kicked, and Renner said he wondered if the gun was fake.

Police later determined that Fomin was carrying a 1911-style airsoft gun — which normally has a bright orange tip, but was painted black. Airsoft guns can be made to look like an ultra-realistic firearm and can even shoot BBs.

Washington County Deputy Prosecutor Fred Wheeler said in a letter that the officers had no way of knowing Fomin was carrying a fake firearm and cleared them of any wrongdoing.

“In this instance, whether as police officers or private citizens, Holscher and Renner could have reasonably reacted to the threat Fomin posed when he raised his weapon,” Wheeler said. “The State will not be able to prove under these facts that the homicide was not justified.”

Renner did not turn on his body camera. Holscher’s body camera was on, but the video does not show Fomin because he blocked the vehicle.

The only footage of the incident is of a neighboring house ringing the doorbell. After the shooting, several Nampa officers canvassed the neighborhood for any additional witnesses or possible video footage.

Wheeler said nothing in the ring doorbell footage contradicts the officers’ statements or Holscher’s body camera, but noted that Fomin is “the most visible” in the video.

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Murphy Man Was ‘Fighting’

Three days into 2022, two Owyhee County sheriff’s deputies — Deputy Richard Demurjian and Lt. David Reed — shot and killed 54-year-old Charles Corey Castro.

Deputies were trying to serve him a restraining order for a previous domestic violence incident. A 10-page Critical Incident Task Force supplemental report details interactions between Castro and sheriff’s deputies. Law enforcement officials described Castro as “combative, argumentative and sometimes confrontational.”

Demurjian said Castro became angry after being informed of the protective order and that he would have to leave Murphy’s home that day. Towards the end of the hour-long fight with Castro, he fell to the ground and began “crying and screaming”.

He then grabbed a “large kitchen knife,” according to the report.

Castro began to move toward Reid and “stabbed several times with the knife,” the description said, when deputies ordered him to stop and drop the knife.

Reed told Castro that if Castro did not drop the knife, he would be shot. Castro then charged at the officers, who fired their guns. According to reports, one shot hit Castro in the head. He was shot four times in total.

Canyon County is investigating the officer-involved shooting that killed the Murphy man