Police have arrested two men who are suspects in a coordinated attack March 20 to facilitate the escape of a prison inmate at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho. Three correctional officers were shot in the incident.
According to police, officers with the Idaho Department of Corrections had transported an inmate, identified as Skylar Meade, to the hospital for medical treatment in the early-morning hours of March 20. An unknown person reportedly attacked and fired at two of the corrections officers as they were getting ready to transport Mr. Meade back to the Idaho Department of Corrections.
When Boise Police responded to reports of an active shooter, an officer fired his weapon believing the armed suspect was still in the hospital's emergency department, injuring a third corrections officer, who was armed.
"He was not seriously injured and is receiving treatment for his injuries," Boise police said in a news release. "The hospital was locked down as officers searched the area for the suspect. A preliminary investigation indicates Meade and the shooting suspect got into a gray four-door sedan and fled the area just prior to Boise Police officers arriving."
One of the injured corrections officers was discharged from the hospital March 20, while the two others remain hospitalized, police said during a March 21 news conference, CBS News reported.
The incident occurred in the ambulance bay near the hospital's emergency department, Saint Alphonsus said in a statement shared with Becker's.
"All patients and staff are safe, the medical center campus is secure and has resumed normal operations," the statement said. The emergency department was temporarily on lockdown throughout the morning while police conducted an investigation of the location. The lockdown has since been lifted, though as a precaution, St. Alphonsus said increased security will remain on campus until further notice.
Mr. Meade and his alleged accomplice, Nicholas Umphenour, were located in Twin Falls, Idaho, on the afternoon of March 21, police said. The two are documented members of a white supremacist gang, and police believe they may have killed two people while on the loose. The two are being investigated as suspects in two homicides after victims were found in rural Idaho. Police said Mr. Meade and Mr. Umphenour were driving a vehicle that belonged to one of the homicide victims when they were found.
Read more updates here.
Editor's note: This story was updated at 5 p.m. CT March 21 with details of the suspects' arrests.