Twin Falls, Idaho. Saturday afternoon. A gunman opened fire in and around an In-N-Out Burger on Blue Lakes Boulevard. By Sunday morning, the picture is clearer, but still not complete.
Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks confirmed the suspected shooter is dead. Twin Falls city spokesperson Josh Palmer said three people were killed. As of the most recent official update, at least seven others were injured, some critically. That injury number has moved twice since Saturday afternoon as the department got a fuller count — the department is not disputing earlier lower figures, they were simply incomplete at the time they were given.
Police have not said whether the shooter is included in the count of three dead.
What’s confirmed:
Twin Falls Police, Idaho State Police, and fire and paramedic crews responded to the scene near In-N-Out on Blue Lakes Boulevard after the first 911 call came in at 2:29 p.m. Saturday. The Perrine Bridge and surrounding roads were shut down and have since reopened. St. Luke’s Magic Valley kept its Emergency Department open while asking the public to avoid the hospital otherwise.
Chief Hicks said the suspected shooter was found dead near the restaurant. He said the department believes the threat to the community is over. Police have not released the shooter’s identity and have not said how he died. They’re withholding the identities of the three people killed pending notification of next of kin.
Josh Palmer, the city’s public information officer, confirmed the death and injury numbers above. He also said Twin Falls Police are working to determine whether anyone else was involved beyond the one shooter.
In-N-Out confirmed one of its employees is among those killed. That confirmation came from the company, not from Twin Falls Police.
Video circulating from the scene shows a man with a pistol firing in the direction of the shooter during the incident. An eyewitness who spoke to the Associated Press described seeing a man with an AR-style rifle come out of the drive-thru, and a man with a pistol open fire on him. Twin Falls Police have not identified, credited, or confirmed the actions of that second armed individual, and have not said whether his presence affected how the incident ended.
The FBI said it is aware of the incident and is assisting local law enforcement.
What’s unconfirmed:
The shooter’s identity has not been released. His motive is still under investigation. How he died has not been confirmed by Twin Falls Police — a report attributing his death to a self-inflicted gunshot came from the chief of a neighboring department, not from the agency running this investigation, and I’m not going to hand you that as fact until Twin Falls PD says it themselves.
Whether the armed bystander seen on video had any effect on how the shooting ended has not been established by police. What we have is video and an eyewitness account — not a police finding.
Final casualty numbers are still described by police as preliminary. Twin Falls Police have publicly flagged a significant amount of misinformation circulating about the shooter’s identity and asked the public not to spread unconfirmed claims.
This remains a developing investigation. Details here are subject to change as Twin Falls Police release more.
