Prosecutor deems Spirit Lake shooting justified
The Spirit Lake police officer who fatally shot a woman in her apartment while conducting a welfare check last year committed no crimes, according to a letter Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney Stan Mortensen sent Thursday to the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office.
The county prosecutor, whose office released the letter Friday, deemed the shooting justified following review of a monthslong investigation into the death of 67-year-old S.A. Floyd, who police shot and killed Nov. 1, 2023.
Mortensen said he determined Spirit Lake police officer James Windrem “acted lawfully” and “fired his weapon in an attempt to defend himself,” as well as Spirit Lake Police Chief Michael Morlan and two other people, from Floyd after Floyd shot at police.
Read Mortensen’s full conclusion at cdapress.com.
Spirit Lake police responded to the apartment in a retirement facility where Floyd lived alone after two of her friends called 911, reporting that Floyd was depressed and close to being evicted from her home. One friend told police he had kicked open the front door only to find Floyd had locked herself in her bedroom and wasn’t responding.
Windrem and Morlan entered the apartment, knocked on the bedroom door and announced themselves as police officers. After receiving no response, Windrem kicked the door open.
The bedroom was dark, police said, so Windrem and Morlan used a flashlight to look around. They reportedly saw Floyd on the bed, concealed under blankets with only the top of her head visible.
Floyd, who was reportedly blind, asked the officers to leave her alone. They told her they would do so if she showed them her hands, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The officers entered Floyd’s bedroom and Morlan pulled the blankets off her. He reportedly saw Floyd was holding a revolver and beginning to sit up. Prosecutors said Windrem “observed S.A. Floyd swing the revolver in his direction” as he and Morlan retreated from the bedroom.
Morlan “tripped and fell at the same moment S.A. Floyd fired her revolver,” prosecutors said, and Windrem believed Floyd may have shot him.
Windrem entered the bathroom directly across the hall from the bedroom. Gun in hand, he peeked around the door frame and saw Floyd “moving on the bed with her gun pointed at his face,” so he hid behind the door frame.
Prosecutors said Windrem peeked out again and saw Floyd trying to get off the bed while holding the revolver.
“Fearing for his life, Officer Windrem discharged his sidearm five times in the direction of S.A. Floyd,” prosecutors said.
Entering the hall, Windrem “could still see the revolver in S.A. Floyd’s hand(s) and that she was still trying to get up and out of bed.” While moving down the hall, toward the living room, Windrem fired at Floyd 10 more times.
Windrem said he saw Floyd moving on the bed as he continued to retreat. It’s unclear how many of the 15 shots he fired hit Floyd.
The shooting occurred at 6:34 p.m., according to a timeline provided by the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, which investigated the shooting. A coroner’s report indicates Floyd was pronounced dead one minute later but does not state who made that determination.
A deputy sheriff arrived at the scene at 6:47 p.m. The scene was then cleared and police needed to obtain a search warrant in order to reenter the apartment.
Floyd was “found deceased” in her bedroom three hours later, at 9:48 p.m., according to the sheriff’s office.
When deputies entered Floyd’s bedroom, prosecutors said her “right hand was still gripping the revolver she had discharged at the officers.”
Spirit Lake Police Chief Michael Morlan