POST FALLS, Idaho (AP) — A police officer shot during a standoff in northern Idaho is in good condition at an area hospital, and investigators are waiting for a report from a coroner to confirm the identity of the suspect, who was found dead.
Police believe the man is 53-year-old Thomas W. Boland, who failed to appear at a sentencing hearing for an assault conviction last year, the Coeur d’Alene Press reported. Police were at the home on Tuesday to serve a misdemeanor warrant in connection with Boland’s failure to appear in court.
Officials hope to have the dead man’s identity confirmed early next week, Coeur d’Alene Police Captain David Hagar said.
Post Falls Police Sgt. Justin Anderson went to the home Tuesday night to serve the warrant, and that’s when the man inside allegedly fired at the officer, authorities have said. Anderson was struck in in the abdomen below his bullet-proof vest.
Police did not disclose whether the man was struck by police gunfire before he went back inside the house. A standoff ensued, with a tactical law enforcement team trying to persuade the man to come out. The man’s son came out of the home and police who eventually went inside and said they found the man dead, surrounded by guns.
According to court records, Boland confronted a group of door-to-door proselytizers at his home in the spring of 2018, swinging his fists toward one of the members and threatening to shoot the men and children handing out religious pamphlets for the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
He was convicted of assault, and was supposed to appear in court to be sentenced in February of 2019.
He never showed up, according to court records, prompting police to attempt to arrest him earlier this week.
