Woman fatally shot by Boise police was carrying a BB gun, according to investigators
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Ruth Brown, Idaho Statesman
BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — Investigators said Thursday that the 33-year-old woman shot and killed by police on Sunday was carrying a BB gun that looked similar to a 9 mm handgun.
Amber Lea Dewitt, of Caldwell, died of multiple gunshot wounds, the Ada County coroner found.
“In order to have the most accurate information available, the Critical Incident Task Force is releasing limited information. The Critical Incident Task Force did recover a realistic-looking BB gun, which was pointed at an officer, from the deceased suspect,” according to a news release from the Meridian Police Department, the lead investigating agency for the task force in this shooting.
Dewitt was pronounced dead at the scene in the 900 block of Clover Drive, east of Veterans Memorial Park off of State Street. Two officers fired their weapons at Dewitt, and both are veteran members of the Boise Police Department. They are on paid administrative leave per department policy, and the incident is under investigation.
The officers involved were Corporal D. Hofmann, a 26-year law enforcement veteran, and Officer M. Canfield, a nine-year veteran with the Boise Police Department.