Three people were killed and seven others wounded, some critically, in a shooting at an In-N-Out Burger restaurant in southern Idaho on Saturday afternoon, a Twin Falls city spokesman said.
Police responding to the shooting found the suspected gunman dead near the restaurant, city public information officer Josh Palmer said. He could not immediately confirm whether the shooter was included in the reported death toll.
Three people were killed and seven others wounded, Idaho, archive
(Photo: REUTERS/Young Kwak)
Authorities were still notifying victims’ relatives and had not released the names, ages or other details of those killed or wounded.
“We believe the threat to the community is over,” Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks said at a news conference.
Police were still working to identify the shooter and determine a motive. Hicks described the restaurant and surrounding shopping district as a “very chaotic scene,” with hundreds of people in the area at the time.
Lane Koehn, 34, said he was stopped at a traffic light near the restaurant when he saw a person carrying an AR-style rifle emerge from the drive-thru. Another man armed with a pistol began firing at the shooter.
Koehn then saw an In-N-Out employee drag a wounded co-worker across the parking lot. The woman, who had been shot in the chest, was bleeding heavily.
The employee, Koehn and the armed man remained with her until paramedics arrived.
“She was pretty bad off, but I don’t know. I hope she made it,” Koehn said.
Police later instructed Koehn to evacuate because the shooting was still considered active. He said the gunman fired at least three or four rounds, though it was unclear whether anyone in particular had been targeted.
Video recorded by a driver across the street showed a person dressed in black carrying a long rifle and approaching a white car. The person opened the driver’s door, popped the trunk and reached inside. The driver recording the scene then fled, fearing the shooter might be retrieving additional weapons.
Twin Falls resident Haley Dodaro, 43, said she and her mother had gone to the restaurant for lunch and were waiting in the drive-thru when they saw people running across the road and employees fleeing the building.
Dodaro initially thought there might be a fire, but a man in a reflective vest directing traffic told them there was a shooter.
“People were running out crying and screaming. It was very scary,” she told The Associated Press in a text message.
Nayeli Rodriguez, 40, of Burley, was waiting for food inside with her daughters when she heard gunfire coming from the kitchen.
An employee told customers there was a shooting and instructed them to get down. Rodriguez said an older man tried to shield her and her daughters before they escaped among the last people to leave the restaurant.
“We were trying to get as far as we could, and some angels let us in their car,” she said. “I left my car there in the parking lot.”
Police closed nearby roads and urged the public to avoid the area while officers interviewed witnesses and searched the scene. Authorities asked anyone with information to contact investigators.
Several wounded people were taken to St. Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center. Hospital spokesperson Taylor Marschner said the facility was working closely with law enforcement and emergency responders.
The restaurant had opened on July 24, about a week before the shooting, as part of In-N-Out’s expansion into Idaho.
Twin Falls, a city of about 56,000 residents, is located approximately 130 miles southeast of Boise and 75 miles north of the Nevada border.