Boise Police fatally shot her son. This woman’s tort claim seeks at least $1.5 million
A reportedly suicidal 26-year-old Boise man was shot and killed by police in October, and his mother says she still doesn’t know why.
Melissa Walton now has filed a tort claim — a necessary precursor to a lawsuit — against multiple Idaho agencies, according to documents the Idaho Statesman obtained via a public records request.
Zachary Snow died Oct. 30 at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center after being shot by two Boise Police Department officers on Oct. 27, according to news releases from police and the Ada County Coroner’s Office. The Idaho Statesman has requested information from multiple agencies regarding the shooting, but all requests to relinquish records have been denied.
The Garden City Police Department is the lead agency in the Ada County Critical Incident Task Force investigation into the shooting.
Walton, Snow’s mother, filed the tort claim against the city of Boise — including its police department and the two officers involved in the shooting — Ada County and the state of Idaho in December. According to the claim, Walton is requesting $500,000 from each entity or the insurance coverage amount any of the agencies have — whichever is greater.
But Walton told the Statesman that money isn’t her concern; answers are.
“How do you mourn the loss of someone when you don’t know why they died?” Walton said by phone.
Snow’s death was one of 12 fatal police shootings in Idaho in 2021, the Statesman previously reported. Half of those occurred in Ada or Canyon counties.
Walton, who lives in Clarkston, Washington, was the one to notify police about her son’s condition on the day he died.
“How do you not live every day thinking that if you hadn’t called the police … your child would be alive,” she said.
Police responded to the call at about 5 p.m. Oct. 27, and Snow was said to be threatening to jump off an overpass or tall building, according to a news release. After searching downtown, police located him near South Capitol Boulevard and West Myrtle Street.
Some of the Boise Police officers in the area had “previous contacts with the subject and were aware of his criminal history,” according to that release.
After trying to approach Snow, police said they perceived “a deadly threat” before shooting him. It is still unknown whether Snow had a weapon when he was shot or what the deadly threat might have been.
The two police officers involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave. Matt Jacobs and Clifton Snodderly have been with the department for 14 and four years, respectively. It is common practice to place officers on paid leave following shootings.
In November 2016, Snow pleaded guilty to felony possession of a controlled substance and was sentenced to at least two years in prison with a maximum sentence of seven years. He was released from prison June 15, according to online records.
“The last message I sent to my son was a lie — the police didn’t help him, they killed him,” Walton said.
Walton said she is “trying to force their hands to hurry up,” because she still doesn’t know exactly what happened that Wednesday evening.
A tort claim has to be filed within six months of an incident so that suing parties are able to preserve their ability to file a formal lawsuit, Walton’s attorney, Steven Fisher, told the Statesman by phone.
“The tort claim notice itself doesn’t really expedite anything. It doesn’t even really have any bearing on (the agencies) finishing their work. It’s simply a, ‘We got to do this,’ ’’ Fisher said. “It’s a formality, really.”
The agencies have until March 22 to respond to the claim.
This story was originally published February 16, 2022 at 5:14 PM.
