The Ada County Coroner's Office has identified a man who died after a deputy-involved shooting in Ada County.
53-year-old Lee Easter was shot and killed after pointing a handgun at officers in a home on the 10000 block of W. Spring River Street.
Police were sent to the scene after dispatchers received a 911 call from the home around 11 p.m. last night. A man said there was someone in his house before hanging up. When dispatchers called back the man answered but put the phone down without hanging up.
When deputies arrived on scene the front door was open so they yelled inside to see if anyone was there.
After hearing somebody upstairs they went into the home to see if the person who called 911 was in danger.
As this was going on, another man called 911 to say he was worried about the mental state of somebody inside the home on Spring River. He said he’d spoken with the man, believed he might be suicidal and had a gun.
The deputies inside the home called for the person they heard moving upstairs to come down. Police say Easter called down telling them, “It’s too late,” before suddenly coming down the stairs and pointing a gun at the deputies.
Both deputies opened fire hitting Easter. Paramedics on scene were not able to revive him. Investigators are still working to discover how many shots were fired and if Easter fired his gun as well.
Nobody else was inside the home.
Investigators have released the names of the deputies involved. Neil Daigle and Keith James have been with the Ada County Sheriff’s Office since 2010 and 2015. Neither have ever been involved in a critical incident before.
The Critical Incident Task Force is investigating the incident, as it does with all uses of lethal force by officers in Ada County. The Boise Police Department will lead the investigation.
