Star officer fatally shot a man in a parking lot. What the investigation found
After an 8-month-long investigation, authorities have cleared the Star police officer who shot and killed a 39-year-old man in a parking lot in June.
The Ada County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a news blog Tuesday that Valley County Prosecutor Brian Naugle determined that Star Officer Jason Woodcook’s actions in the shooting were justified and did not violate policies of the sheriff’s office.
When someone is shot by the police, authorities create a Critical Incident Task Force to review the incident. The investigation is then sent to an external prosecuting attorney for a criminal review of the officers’ actions.
The Valley County Prosector’s Office determined Woodcook did not break any laws during the shooting.
In the morning of June 15, Star police received a report of a man acting erratically and refusing to leave a family member’s home. Officers arrived at the home and spoke with 39-year-old Jeremy Banach, who agreed to leave, the Statesman previously reported.
According to the blog post, the family member told police at the home that Banach was a drug addict who sometimes carried knives. Police asked him to leave and watched him walk away, according to previous Statesman reporting.
Officers on the scene noticed Banach carried a gun, Star Police Zach Hessing previously said, and upon further investigation were told he had stolen a gun the night before, prompting a firearm investigation.
Police found Banach about 1 hour later near the Star Mercantile parking lot, the Statesman previously reported.
According to Tuesday’s blog post, Banach ignored lawful commands to drop his gun and posed an “immediate threat” to deputies and the public at the time of the shooting. Forensic tests also showed Banach was intoxicated with fentanyl and methamphetamine at the time of the shooting, the sheriff’s office said.
Banach pointed his gun in the direction of two other Star police officers, Ashley Turner and Jonathan Steele, before Woodcook shot him five times, according to the post. Authorities said they then attempted to save Banach’s life, but he died at the scene.
Turner and Steele were also cleared after the investigation, according to the post.
The sheriff’s office had previously placed the three officers involved on paid administrative leave, Ada County spokesperson Patrick Orr told the Statesman in an email. Administrative leave is the protocol following a police-involved shooting.
This story was originally published March 14, 2023 at 6:14 PM.
