Bombs at the Boise mall? No, police used flash-bang devices during arrest
Boise police officers deployed flash-bang devices during an arrest at the Boise Towne Square mall Wednesday, concerning mall-goers and bystanders who believed there might have been bombs going off.
Officers were assisting federal agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration to arrest a suspect who had an active federal warrant and a “known history including violence and weapons charges,” according to the Boise Police Department.
Police spokesperson Haley Kramer told the Idaho Statesman by email that officers from the department’s Special Operations Unit used “noise flash diversionary devices” while taking the suspect into custody in the mall parking lot.
There were no injuries to officers or the suspect, Kramer said. She declined to name the suspect, directing further inquiries to the DEA.
The DEA did not immediately respond to an email or phone call from the Statesman.
Bystanders took to social media to detail confusion about the incident, which they said took place in the lot behind The Cheesecake Factory.
Flash-bangs work by producing “a loud noise and a bright flash to distract someone in an attempt to delay their reaction time by a brief moment,” Kramer said.
This story was originally published July 9, 2025 at 4:55 PM.
