The Ada County Critical Incident Task Force is investigating the officer-involved shooting of a suicidal 41-year-old man in Star Thursday.
Christoffer Huffman died as a result of the shooting. The Star Police Officer involved was not hurt.
The hour-long ordeal occurred in a field off the west side of Idaho 16, south of Floating Feather Road
Star Police begin their investigation just before 5:30 p.m. when they were contacted by a third party who told officers Huffman was making suicidal statements and threatening to harm himself.
Officers found Huffman a short time later in the field next to a cement manhole.
Officers set up a perimeter and began talking to Huffman, who they could see was holding a handgun and was moving it around and at his head.
Police asked him numerous times to drop the gun and offered him help. Huffman refused.
This went on for several minutes when officers heard a gunshot just after 6 p.m. and saw Huffman fall to the ground.
Officers suspected Huffman was injured but could see he was breathing.
As officers moved towards Huffman, they could see him moving his hands.
Officers stopped and ordered him to throw the gun away so they could get him help.
This went on for about 10 minutes when Huffman grabbed the gun, sat up, and began yelling at the officers and waving the gun around.
Initial information indicates that was when a Star Police officer fired. Huffman once again fell down but continued to move on the ground.
By this time, the MedCat armored ambulance arrived.
A short time later, Huffman sat up and held up both his hands. A team of officers used the MedCat to get close enough to get him into custody. Paramedics then began medical treatment.
Paramedics transported Huffman to a local hospital shortly after 7 p.m.. He was declared deceased around 8 p.m.
The Ada County Coroner’s Office determined the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chest.
The details of exactly what happened are still being determined. The case is under active investigation.
The case is being investigated by the Ada County Critical Incident Task Force, which does an independent investigation of all uses of lethal force in Ada County. Garden City Police are the lead agency for this incident.
The officer who fired has been put on administrative leave, which is standard practice.