Idaho State Police arrested a prison gang member and an accomplice who helped them escape from the hospital early Wednesday after they ambushed and opened fire on officers, hitting two of them.
Police now believe the two were involved in two murders that occurred while the two suspects were on the run.
The shooting occurred at 2:15 a.m. as Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC) officers were preparing to return Skyler Meade to the prison. IDOC Director Josh Tewalt said Meade had previously been taken to St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center for treatment after “self-harming.”
While in the hospital, Nicolas Amphenol attacked and fired shots at police officers. During the attack, Infenneur punched two police officers, one of whom is in critical but stable condition, and the other with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Idaho inmate escapes after ‘coordinated’ shooting of hospital workers.3 people injured
LR: Nicholas Amphenol and Skyler Mead. (Boise Police Department)
Boise Police responded and a third IDOC officer was injured after firing at an armed person near the hospital entrance. IDOC personnel were not seriously injured and were treated.
Mead and Amphenol were taken into custody Thursday afternoon during a traffic stop in Twin Falls, about 130 miles from the hospital where they fled.
At a press conference Thursday, authorities said they were investigating two homicides in Nez Perce and Clearwater counties and that a 2020 Honda Civic, believed to be the vehicle in which the two men fled, was later recovered. .
Investigators also found shackles at the scene of one of the murders.
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Boise Police provided a photo of Skyler Meade from jail. (Boise Police Department)
“That’s one of the ways we connected the cases,” Lt. Col. Sheldon Kelly of the Idaho State Police told reporters about how the suspects were linked to the murders.
Meade was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2017 for firing at a Twin Falls sheriff’s sergeant during a high-speed chase. His previous convictions include felony possession of a controlled substance, grand larceny, and introducing contraband into a correctional facility.
Police say Meade is a member of the Aryan Knights, a white supremacist prison gang primarily based in Idaho. He has tattoos of the numbers 1 and 11 representing “A” and “K” on both sides of his face.
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St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center was temporarily placed on lockdown following the shooting. (Google Maps)
Because of his behavior in custody, Meade was placed in what Tewalt called “administrative segregation,” a type of solitary confinement at the Idaho Maximum Security Institute in Kuna.
Tewalt said the restrictive housing Meade was placed in is reserved for detainees who have proven unable to be housed without danger to themselves.
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Prior to the two arrests, Boise police announced that they had obtained a warrant for Anfenour’s arrest on charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and aiding and abetting escape. The warrant has a $2 million bond, police said.
Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace and Bradford Betz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
