Deputy cameras show tense seconds of fatal officer-involved shooting
Published at | Updated at
AMMON – Dashcam video and body camera footage show the tense moments two Bonneville County Sheriff’s deputies shot and killed an armed man.
Last week, Bonneville County prosecutors cleared Dino Vidal and Cooper Merrill, the two deputies who fired their guns on Dec. 30, resulting in the death of 21-year-old Peter England. In the video recently obtained by EastIdahoNews.com, within seconds, England is seen raising his gun at the deputies, who fired their own guns, killing him.
“Hands, show me your hands!” Vidal is heard yelling as the gun is pointed at him.
Vidal and Merrill both fire several shots. The deputies seek cover behind cars as England slowly moves behind a pickup truck into what prosecutors call a potential “fighting position.”
RELATED | Deputies cleared in fatal officer-involved shooting. Here’s what prosecutors say happened.
Around 15 minutes before the shooting, the Idaho Falls Police Department encountered England driving around an apartment complex and raised their suspicions over the radio. Officials say police broadcast that they believed England might be attempting to set up an ambush against law enforcement.
After England took off from police, Vidal and Merrill waited for him to drive to his own apartment, where the shooting occurred.
With England on the ground, deputies, police and a woman who said she was a nurse frantically tried to save his life. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The entire incident prompted an investigation by the Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Task Force, which is a multi-agency team called in to investigate officer-involved shootings.
When finished with their reports, the evidence, video and other information was turned over to the Bonneville County prosecutors, who deemed the shooting justified last week.
