Police release new details about 4-hour standoff at Idaho Falls hotel

The following is a news release from Idaho Falls Police. | Photo: Kaitlyn Hart, EastIdahoNews.com

Idaho Falls Police Officers responded to the Hilton Garden Inn shortly after noon today, July 28, for a report of a disturbance involving guests in one of the rooms at the hotel. Officers arrived and made contact with one of the people involved, a woman, after knocking on the hotel room door. The woman made a statement to officers that she was armed with multiple firearms, had a hostage, and threatened harm if officers attempted to enter the room.

Officers immediately took steps to secure the area, evacuate surrounding rooms including those above and below, and called out additional police resources. Officers from patrol, SWAT, and our Crisis Negotiations Team responded.

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Officers with the Crisis Negotiations team attempted to make contact with the people in the room but had limited response or cooperation from them. Eventually, officers were able to establish communication with the occupants who refused to leave the room.

Officers learned that the door had been barricaded. Eventually, officers broke a window in order to deploy a gas into the room, which acts as an irritant and is used to encourage people to exit the space. A short time after this, and after continued communication between the occupants and Crisis Negotiators, the male occupant of the room exited and was taken into custody. Approximately 45 minutes later, the woman also exited the room and was taken into custody.

No one was injured during this incident, which lasted approximately four hours. Both the male and female occupants of the room were evaluated by medical professionals due to exposure to the gas irritant as a precaution and have since been booked into the Bonneville County Jail.

Officers did not find any firearms inside the room, despite the statements made by the woman at the beginning of the incident. The only other occupant of the room, the male, stated that he stayed in the room of his own volition.

The woman has been identified as Madison Salisbury, a 28-year-old resident of California. The male has been identified as Zachary Melton, a 34-year-old resident of California. Both Salisbury and Melton have been booked into the Bonneville County Jail for trespassing and resisting/obstructing Arrest.

The Idaho Falls Fire Department responded and remained on standby throughout of the incident as a precaution. The Chaplains of Idaho also responded to provide support to officers on scene.

NOTE: When the window was breached, some people in the area at the time mistook the sound for gunfire. The window breaking did create two very loud sharp noises that a lay person could reasonably misidentify as gun shots. To reiterate and be clear, at no time during the incident were shots fired by Idaho Falls Police Officers. There is no evidence at this time that any shots were fired by the two people inside the room.