Gun takes center stage in Rambo trial

COEUR d’ALENE — The state rested its case Thursday against the teen who lost both legs after being shot by police.

Tyler Rambo, 19, is accused of second-degree attempted murder and aggravated assault.

The charges stem from the July 4, 2019, celebration at City Park in Coeur d’Alene, when police said Rambo, who was 18 at the time, shot at another man during an altercation.

Rambo then ran from police, who said he fired at them after being hit with a stun gun.

The state called upon two witnesses Thursday to discuss the gun that went off in both shootings.

Idaho State Police Det. Gary Tolleson said he recovered Rambo’s revolver from inside a marked police vehicle near the basketball courts, where another officer had placed it after the shooting.

Coeur d’Alene Police Officer Nathan Herbig testified Wednesday that he emptied Rambo’s gun and dumped the bullets on the ground, where he left them for some time while he helped secure the scene.

Herbig said he did not count, photograph or document the bullets, but later returned and put them in an evidence bag, which Tolleson also took from the scene.

The bag contained four live rounds of ammunition and one spent casing, Tolleson said.

He said he also processed clothing that had been collected as evidence, including Rambo’s jeans.

Police found 13 rounds of ammunition in the right rear pocket, he said, and found a taser probe near the right front of the pants.

Tolleson described in court how a gun’s trigger operates when pulled and demonstrated with Rambo’s revolver.

A single-action revolver requires the hammer to be pulled back manually before the trigger is pulled. The trigger pull is short — less than a 16th of an inch in the case of Rambo’s gun, Tolleson estimated — and requires less force.

A double-action revolver has a trigger that both cocks the hammer and releases it in one pull. The pull is longer and requires more force than a single-action trigger.

Tolleson said the revolver identified as Rambo’s can fire in single or double action.

Britany Wylie, a forensic scientist with Idaho State Police Forensic Services, said she performed tests to determine the amount of force required to pull the trigger back enough to squeeze off a round.

In single action, Wylie said, it takes 4 pounds of pressure to pull the trigger on Rambo’s revolver. In double action, where the hammer is not cocked, it takes 10.5 pounds of pressure to fire the gun.

“If you had a gallon of milk on your finger, how much force would you have to use to lift it?” Wylie said. “Double-action would require more force than that.”

A gallon of milk in a plastic jug weighs a little more than 8 pounds, she said.

Additionally, Wylie said tests showed that two spent casings collected from the scene — one found on the ground, one found inside the cylinder — were fired from Rambo’s revolver.

It was not possible to determine whether the bullets were fired using single or double action, she said.

Tolleson said it’s possible for guns to discharge when dropped, including revolvers with the hammer pulled back.

Defense attorney Rick Baughman directed Tolleson to point the gun at the ceiling, put his finger on the trigger and hold the hammer back with his thumb.

“Let go of your thumb,” Baughman said.

The gun clicked.

Baughman asked Tolleson if the gun would fire in that case.

“I believe if I held that trigger, it would,” Tolleson said.

The defense will begin to present its case when proceedings continue Monday.