Idaho man accused of murder for ‘random’ shooting that killed a boy younger than 12
Authorities booked an Emmett man into Ada County Jail early Monday on suspicion of first-degree murder in connection with a Horseshoe Bend shooting that killed a boy younger than age 12.
Benjamin Poirier, 44, is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder.
Police say Poirier entered a Horseshoe Bend trailer park around 10:25 p.m. Sunday and approached a trailer belonging to a family he did not know. Poirier was heard yelling about the end of the world and started shooting through the trailer, police say. A bullet struck and fatally wounded a boy, younger than age 12, who has not been named. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help his family pay for medical and funeral costs.
Jon Dufresne, who owns the mobile home park where the shooting occurred, said the boy’s family had lived there for about three years.
“They’re one of the best tenants in the entire park, and (the boy) is one of the best kids in the entire school,” Dufresne said. “Everybody’s just devastated.”
Dufresne said the suspect fired shots and yelled threats before leaving the area briefly. He then drove his car into a propane tank and hit the trailer, Idaho State Police Capt. Matt Sly said. The collision did not start a fire and a Boise County Sheriff’s deputy arrived and detained the suspect with the help of some people in the area.
Sly said he heard about the yelling but did not know what it meant. He said detectives will continue to interview witnesses and may have the opportunity to interview the suspect to learn more context about Poirier’s alleged behavior.
“This was a random act,” Sly told the Statesman on Monday. “From what I was told, the suspect didn’t know the people in the trailer.”
Dufresne said he’s shaken by the seemingly random act of violence. He said he had recently installed surveillance cameras throughout the park — some of which had been taken as evidence Monday afternoon — in hopes of creating a safe, family-friendly place to live.
“Nothing like this has ever happened in Horseshoe Bend,” Dufresne said. “I thought I was doing everything in my power to protect the children here, and then the worst possible thing happened.”
Tamera Marshall, who lives in the mobile home next door to the one the victim lived in, said her fiance heard the suspect yelling threats on Sunday night and instructed her to lay on the floor of their trailer.
“If it had been just one trailer over, that would’ve been us,” Marshall said.
Copies of Poirier’s charging documents were not immediately available. He was arraigned in Boise County on Monday afternoon.
He’s being held without bond and his next court date is set for March 30, according to online court records.
The motive for the shooting remains unclear.
This story was originally published March 16, 2020 at 10:36 AM.
