SWAT team called after camper jumps in river to escape man wielding gun near Swan Falls
A frightened man was forced to flee into the Snake River to safety late Sunday night after someone allegedly pointed a gun at him while he was camping near the Swan Falls Dam south of Kuna.
The Ada County Sheriff’s Office said it arrested 66-year-old Mark Allen, of Garden City, early Monday morning and charged him with aggravated assault.
The camper, who identified himself to the Idaho Statesman as Dylan Bigelow, told deputies that he went to check on Allen after watching him take a fall just north of the dam. Allen then reportedly pulled a gun out and pointed it at him.
Scared that he may get shot, Bigelow told the Statesman that he jumped off a rock into the Snake River to escape, waded and ran around another big rock, fled to his vehicle, and then drove to the dam, where he was able to call 911.
When deputies arrived shortly before 10:30 p.m., they heard gunshots fired nearby. The sheriff’s office said because the shooting occurred in “the dispersed camping and totally dark recreation area north of the dam,” they decided to call in the Ada County Sheriff’s Office SWAT unit.
Members of the SWAT unit located Allen after conducting a ground search with an aerial drone. The sheriff’s office said he “surrendered without further incident” at about 2 a.m. when they found him and he “appeared intoxicated.”
Allen received a medical evaluation and was being held in the Ada County Jail in Boise as of Monday afternoon.
This story was originally published August 15, 2022 at 2:33 PM.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to include the name of the camper and to clarify details about the incident.
