Deputies are still determining what led to an 18-year-old man getting stabbed inside the Western Idaho Fair Friday night – and why the group of people he was with were running in the parking lot a brief time later when a 16-year-old boy accidently shot himself.
Both the 18-year-old and 16-year-old were treated for their injuries Friday night. No charges have been filed and no suspects have been identified at this point.
Investigators are still trying to determine when and why the 18-year-old was stabbed in the elbow but do know it happened during some kind of argument near the carnival rides inside the fairgrounds.
The shooting occurred just after 9:45 p.m. in the western parking lot near Midway Drive. At that point, the 18-year-old, the 16-year-old, and several people were running towards Glenwood Drive when the 16-year-old somehow shot himself.
Deputies were close by and were able to respond to the 16-year-old. It took them a while longer to find the 18-year-old.
The shooting led to deputies closing the parking lot and fair gates for about a half hour as they sorted out what was happening and worked to keep fairgoers safe.
People were not able to leave the parking lot or go in or out of the fairgrounds, which resulted in some confusion and short-tempers.
Once the parking lots were re-opened, traffic was backed up so it took a while to clear the parking lots.
Deputies have found and identified some of the people involved and continue to actively investigate what happened.