Man’s family files lawsuit in fatal Boise police shooting. Officer was cleared
A Boise Police Department officer who shot and killed a man in 2024 has been cleared of wrongdoing, but the man’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit naming the officer, the city and others.
Guadalupe Reyes, 47, was fatally shot on Nov. 10, 2024, by Boise Officer Brady Strodtbeck during a hostage situation at an apartment, according to the police and previous Idaho Statesman reporting. The legal complaint filed on behalf of his children says that Reyes was believed to be in a mental health crisis, and a family member called 911 to get help, which led to the police involvement.
The shooting case was under investigation by the Critical Incident Task Force, led by the Ada County Sheriff’s Office. Boise Police Department spokesperson Haley Williams told the Statesman that the investigation is now complete, and a prosecutor tasked with reviewing the incident cleared Strodtbeck in the shooting.
The family’s lawsuit, filed in late October, alleges that Strodtbeck and others involved in the incident did not follow proper procedures, and violated Reyes’ Fourth and 14th Amendment rights to be free from “undue and unreasonable force.”
Their lawsuit asserts that “instead of establishing a perimeter or having a tactical plan” when it came to approaching Reyes, police burst into the conflict “contrary to their training and contrary to standard police practices.”
A possible hostage situation and mental health crisis
According to a Boise police press release from the day of the shooting, officers responded to a report of suspicious circumstances at an apartment on the 1300 block of North Liberty in West Boise. The release said “a third party reported concerning behavior and a possible hostage situation.”
The family’s complaint states that Reyes called his daughter that day and “communicated statements that exhibited a mental health crisis.” Reyes’ daughter then called the police seeking intervention, and she was on the phone with her father for two hours when police asked her to disconnect so that a crisis intervention team could contact Reyes, according to the suit.
Police said Reyes had a knife and was threatening an adult male who was also at the residence. Their release said that the two knew each other and that Reyes was staying temporarily in the apartment owned by the man’s neighbor.
Police later said its crisis unit and a special-operations unit attempted negotiations with Reyes for more than two hours, and when the hostage finally exited the residence, officers “moved in to assist the victim.” Reyes also emerged from the apartment and was holding a knife, and Strodtbeck shot him.
Police officers performed life-saving measures on Reyes before he was taken to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The Ada County Coroner’s Office report said Reyes died of multiple gunshot wounds.
No Boise police officers were injured. Strodtbeck was placed on administrative leave per department policy while the CITF investigation was ongoing.
Lawsuit says there was no “tactical plan” from Boise police
In the lawsuit, the family argues that Boise police officers failed to establish a perimeter and did not have a tactical plan to approach Reyes, despite what the department has described as hours of negotiations. The complaint claims the officer “rushed to attack” Reyes.
The family’s lawsuit also says that even though Reyes was holding a knife, he was “not harming anyone, not threatening to harm anyone, nor doing anything which caused the officers to reasonably believe (he) was a threat to the officers or a member of the public.”
The Reyes family is asking for a jury trial and for unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, claiming loss of life as well as “mental, physical and emotional pain.”
Williams told the Statesman in an email that a case report, videos and other evidence in the Reyes police shooting would be available to the public in the coming weeks.
Boise police were involved in six shootings in 2024, three of which were fatal, according to an internal database maintained by the Statesman.
