2 Boise officers injured, suspect killed in shootout

BOISE, Idaho -- Authorities say two Idaho police officers were injured and a suspect was dead after a shooting during a search for a fugitive. 

Police were doing a yard-to-yard search for the fugitive about 3:25 p.m. Friday when the gunfire broke out in a Boise neighborhood.

Boise police say the man who was killed in the shootout is 33-year-old Marco Romero, a recent parolee who was sought in connection with a Tuesday shooting in Meridian that injured two people. Authorities did not release the names of the injured officers, but one of them was being treated in the emergency room and the other was in surgery at St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center Friday evening.

One officer is in critical but stable condition, and the other is in fair condition. The suspect was pronounced dead at the hospital. No names have been released yet, CBS affiliate KBOI reports. 

Boise Police Chief William Bones says a police dog, Jardo, was also shot during the incident. Jardo has had surgery since and is doing OK.

Resident Jake Chappele told the Idaho Statesman that he was just getting home from school with his three kids when the gunfire broke out. He ushered the kids inside when he heard what sounded like 10 to 20 shots.

Another resident, Jeff Sele, said he was talking with someone on the street when he heard the gunfire.

“I heard guns and shotguns, it sounded like to me. You can definitely tell the difference between a gun and shotgun blast. It happened real fast....It was 10 to 12 shots, and then it was done,” Sele said.

Officer-involved shootings in the Boise region aren’t common, but Friday’s shooting marked the third such incident in the region in the last 24 hours. Ada County Sheriff’s deputies shot a 72-year-old man from Melba Thursday night after a vehicle chase, and Caldwell police shot a man on Friday who was suspected of attempted to break into a home. Their conditions were not immediately known.

Idaho law enforcement officers have fatally shot five people so far this year. Last year seven people were shot and killed by Idaho law enforcement officers.