Ada County Coroner identifies victims, suspect in Boise mall shooting
BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — The Ada County Coroner's Office has identified the two victims killed in Monday's deadly shooting at the Boise Towne Square Mall as well as the gunman.
The victims have been identified as 26-year-old Jo Acker of Caldwell and 49-year-old Robert Padilla Arguelles of Rupert. The suspect has been identified as 27-year-oldJacob Bergquist of Boise. A total of 18 gun shell casings were found inside the mall.
A search warrant was issued at Bergquist's home on Fry Street, police said in a news release on Tuesday. Local, state and federal authorities are working to learn more about the suspect, who BPD chief Ryan Lee said was known to local police.
"There is also a multi-state effort underway to learn more about the suspect. We have been coordinating with our local, state and federal partners to investigate rumors and reports from social media and there is no evidence of additional planned attacks or ongoing threats to the public. All evidence indicates the suspect was acting alone."
The police department says three women were injured in the shooting. A 52-year-old and 23-year-old woman were injured while inside the mall, while a third woman, a 68-year-old was shot while she was inside her vehicle. All three have non-life-threatening injuries, BPD says.
"Officers came under immediate fire," Lee said. Frankly, the courage, the willingness to step into harm's way to risk their own lives and maybe not make it home to protect this community is what kept this from being a more grave tragedy.Here's a preliminary timeline released by Boise PD:
1:50 p.m.: Ada County dispatch began receiving calls about shots fired in the Boise Towne Square Mall on N. Milwaukee. Callers indicated a white male adult, dressed in black, in possession of guns, had fired multiple shots inside of the building. Evidence indicates the suspect was contacted by a security officer on the first floor of the building near a department store on the west side of the building.
The suspect shot the security officer who died at the scene. The suspect then fired multiple rounds inside the building, striking the glass escalator and a second victim who succumbed to his injures at the hospital. The suspect then continued through the mall, firing rounds into the floor resulting in injuries to two females. An additional male victim was taken in a private vehicle to a hospital and treated for injuries sustained during a fall while exiting the mall.
1:53 p.m.: The first officers arrived on scene and shortly after witnessed a suspect matching the description running from the area. Officers confronted the suspect behind a business on the 500 Block of N. Milwaukee.
1:54 p.m.: Officers reported shots fired. The suspect was facing west toward Milwaukee. There was an exchange of gunfire between the suspect and at least one responding officer. The 68-year-old woman who was injured in her vehicle was on Milwaukee.
The suspect's motive is still under investigation.
Boise Police would like to commend all mall employees and staff with following proper procedures to secure and lock down the mall," the police department said. This was a chaotic scene, and many lives were saved by individual acts and decisions.Anyone who witnessed Monday's shooting and has not been interviewed by police is asked to contact Crime Stoppers.
The Boise Towne Square Mall is coordinating with retailers and employees to recover items left behind in the mall. There doesn’t appear to be a significant number of personal items left behind by other guests.
BPD says it will have additional officers at the mall moving forward.
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