Three Killed in Idaho Restaurant Shooting, Gunman Found Dead

BOISE- Three people were killed and seven others were injured in a shooting at an In-N-Out Burger restaurant in Twin Falls, Idaho, on Saturday, authorities said, with police later finding the suspected gunman dead near the scene and declaring the threat to the public over.

The shooting unfolded shortly after 2 p.m. at the recently opened fast-food restaurant in a busy shopping plaza in Twin Falls, a city about 130 miles (205 km) southeast of Boise. Investigators were still working to identify the suspect and determine a motive, Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks said.

“We believe the threat to the community is over,” Hicks told a news conference, describing the incident as “a very chaotic scene.”

Twin Falls city spokesperson Josh Palmer said officers responding to the attack located the body of the suspected shooter near the restaurant. He said authorities had not yet confirmed whether the suspect was included in the reported death toll.

Officials withheld the identities and ages of those killed and injured while family members were being notified. Palmer said several of the seven injured victims remained in critical condition.

Investigators continued interviewing witnesses after the attack, which occurred in one of the city’s busiest commercial areas where hundreds of people were present at the time.

Witness Lane Koehn said he saw a person carrying an AR-style rifle emerge from the restaurant’s drive-thru area, while another man armed with a handgun fired at the suspected shooter. Koehn said he later helped an employee who had dragged a wounded co-worker across the parking lot after the woman suffered a gunshot wound to the chest.

Koehn said police instructed bystanders to evacuate because the shooting was still active. He told the Associated Press that the gunman fired several rounds and that it was unclear whether any specific individual had been targeted.

Video recorded by a passing motorist appeared to show a person dressed in black carrying a long rifle approaching a white vehicle, opening the driver’s door and trunk before the person filming drove away, fearing additional weapons might be retrieved.

Haley Dodaro, who was waiting in the restaurant’s drive-thru with her mother, said they initially believed there had been a fire after seeing employees and customers running from the building. She said they realized it was an active shooting only after a traffic worker warned them about the gunman.

Another witness, Nayeli Rodriguez of Burley, said she was inside the restaurant with her daughters when gunfire erupted near the kitchen. She said an employee instructed customers to get down before they fled the building, adding that a stranger shielded her family as they escaped and another motorist later offered them refuge in a vehicle.

Multiple victims were taken to St. Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center, whose spokesperson said the hospital was working closely with law enforcement and emergency responders treating those injured.

The In-N-Out Burger restaurant had opened on July 24 as part of the California-based chain’s expansion into Idaho. Authorities said the investigation into the shooting remained ongoing.