Post Falls man identified after fatal shooting
A truck rests on top of a Post Falls Police cruiser on the north side of Interstate 90 after a suspect pursuit Thursday morning in Post Falls.
DEVIN WEEKS/Press
COEUR d’ALENE — Authorities identified the man who police fatally shot Thursday after he allegedly drove a pickup truck into patrol vehicles on purpose.
Randy W. Ness, 57, of Post Falls, died from gunshot wounds on I-90.
Post Falls police responded around 8:40 a.m. Thursday morning to reports of a driver, later identified as Ness, “targeting and ramming” parked vehicles and structures in the area of Railroad Avenue and Williams Street.
Officers located Ness’ vehicle in the 700 block of Spokane Street and initiated a traffic stop.
Ness reportedly drove through a parking lot, where he rammed a police vehicle, backed up, rammed another police vehicle and fled the scene with law enforcement in pursuit.
On I-90, police said Ness stopped his vehicle and appeared to intentionally back up and over the pursuing Post Falls police vehicle, “crushing the roof with two officers still inside the vehicle.”
“At least one Post Falls police officer fired his duty weapon,” Coeur d’Alene police said in a news release Friday.
Photos of the scene appeared to show Ness’ vehicle, which was riddled with bullet holes on the driver’s side, backed up on top of a patrol car.
A body could be seen on the ground, covered with a tarp.
Multiple officers sustained minor injuries when their vehicles were rammed, according to the Coeur d’Alene Police Department. No others were hurt.
Police said Ness damaged at least four vehicles, a telephone pole and at least two structures.
Westbound I-90 was blocked from milepost 5 to milepost 2 for much of Thursday, but reopened around 3:30 p.m.
The North Idaho Critical Incident Task Force was activated to investigate the event, with the Coeur d’Alene Police Department tasked as the lead agency. Idaho State Police and the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office assisted.