Photo: Boise Police Department
Authorities in Idaho are searching for an escaped inmate and his accomplice. The Idaho Department of Corrections said that inmate Skylar Meade was transported to the hospital for an unscheduled medical visit.
Around 2:15 a.m. on Wednesday (March 20), officers were preparing to transport Meade back to prison when they were ambushed by an unknown assailant.
The suspect shot two officers and managed to escape with Meade.
One of the officers is in critical but stable condition, while the second suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries. A third officer was shot by a Boise police officer who was responding to the active shooter situation at the hospital. He opened fire on an armed individual near the hospital, who turned out to be a corrections officer from the prison.
He was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Meade and his accomplice were seen driving away in a gray four-door sedan, possibly a Honda Civic, officials said. Authorities urged people to be vigilant and call 911 if they see anything suspicious. The two men should be considered armed and extremely dangerous.
Officials said that the circumstances around Meade's hospitalization and escape are under investigation.
"This brazen, violent, and apparently coordinated attack on Idaho Department of Corrections personnel, to facilitate an escape of a dangerous inmate, was carried out right in front of the Emergency Department, where people come for medical help, often in the direst circumstances," Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar said in a statement. "I am grateful this harrowing incident did not result in loss of life, and we are monitoring the wounded IDOC officers with great hope for a full and speedy recovery of all involved."