Boise Police say Grove plaza shooting was result of accidental weapon discharge
The Boise Police Department has confirmed that a man’s gunshot injury outside of Buffalo Wild Wings on The Grove plaza Saturday night was self-inflicted.
“After further investigation into the shooting … evidence shows the man was injured after accidentally discharging his own firearm,” spokesperson Haley Williams told the Idaho Statesman.
A police officer working at an Idaho Steelheads game exited Idaho Central Arena at around 9:25 p.m. and found a man on the plaza with a gunshot wound to the leg, Lt. Jim Quackenbush of the Boise Police Department said.
This set off an unsettling scene. Police and emergency vehicles descended on the plaza and its surrounding blocks. Police secured a perimeter, searched the area for a possible shooting suspect and put crime scene tape around the entire plaza. Some local businesses sheltered people inside, locking their doors and closing early in the process.
The man was found with a firearm in his possession, and he was conscious and speaking, Quackenbush said. He was transported to a hospital and remained there as of Tuesday afternoon with non-life-threatening injuries, Williams said.
Police did not immediately know the wound had been self-inflicted, which led to their response and reaction.
“There was not information immediately after the shooting to know no one else was involved, and officers had to secure the area for the safety of everyone else nearby and to secure a possible crime scene,” Williams said.
As the investigation went on, Williams said, there wasn’t any evidence to indicate anyone else was involved. Police say they have now confirmed what happened through multiple sources.
When asked what the victim told police about how he received his injury, Williams said she could not get into specifics of the investigation or the man’s statements because “there could be charges pending against the individual.”
This story was originally published February 15, 2022 at 2:52 PM.
