Knife-wielding woman shot, killed by police

SANDPOINT - A 35-year-old woman armed with a knife was shot and killed by police outside Bonner General Health on Tuesday night.

The woman's name was not released.

Sandpoint Police officers were summoned to the hospital on North Third Avenue after dispatchers received a report of a weapons offense at 9:12 p.m. Officers contacted the woman outside the facility.

"Preliminary investigation indicates the female aggressed the officers while refusing to comply with commands to drop the knife. The officers responded to the threat using lethal force," the Bonner County Sheriff's Office said in a news released issued on Wednesday.

Despite immediate medical intervention by Bonner EMS personnel and the hospital's emergency room staff, the woman died of her wounds, the news release said.

A Bonner EMS incident log indicated the woman was shot in the chest.

The hospital implemented its emergency lock-down procedures during the episode.

The shooting comes less than a month after BGH conducted emergency preparedness training in the event of an armed subject at the facility. Law officers and emergency personnel from the county and the city took part in the drill.

The sheriff's office is coordinating the multi-agency investigation into the shooting. Anyone with information about the matter is asked to contact Det. Sgt. Gary Johnston at 263-8417, extension 3058.

Sandpoint Police Chief Corey Coon did not respond to a request for comment.

Sheriff Daryl Wheeler said the victim's name could be disclosed by Thursday.

"We are still right at the beginning of the investigation," said Wheeler.

The last officer-involved shooting fatality in Bonner County occurred on July 7, 2008, when a Hope man led law officers on a high-speed chase after committing a theft at a state liquor store at the Bonner Mall in Ponderay.

Mark Eric Betts, 45, crashed his sport utility vehicle on Colburn Culver Road and opened fire as deputies closed in on the rig. Deputies returned fire and Betts was killed.

The deputies' use of force was deemed justified following an Idaho State Police investigation and a review by the Bonner County Prosecutor's Office.