Boise police shot, killed a man who ran away. What happened? BPD release few details | Opinion

It’s been nearly a week since a Boise police officer shot and killed a man in the early morning hours of June 24 in downtown Boise, and we still know very little about what happened.

Too little.

The Boise Police Department has released very few facts.

Too few.

The shooting took place shortly after 2 a.m. on June 24 near 5th and Main streets after Boise police officers approached a “suspicious vehicle” as part of an “ongoing investigation,” according to previous Statesman reporting.

After officers “attempted to make contact” with the vehicle occupants, one person “fled on foot toward Idaho Street holding a firearm,” according to a news release from the Boise Police Department.

“Officers chased the suspect and gave commands for the suspect to stop, which were disregarded,” according to the release. “One BPD officer fired his duty weapon. ... A firearm was recovered next to the suspect.”

Officers began life-saving care while others secured the scene. Ada County paramedics took the suspect to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. On June 26, the police department sent out another release saying that the victim died.

That’s it. No other information has been released since.

The Ada County Coroner’s Office, as is standard practice, released the name of the victim: Payton Wasson, 22, of Nampa.

What we still don’t know: the name of the officer who shot Wasson; how many years of experience that officer has; how many shots were fired; why the vehicle was considered “suspicious”; the nature of the “ongoing investigation,” even in broad terms; whether there were any other people on the street when Wasson was shot; whether anyone was in danger; whether officers felt threatened or thought others were under threat.

Being tight-lipped about the circumstances only creates a vacuum of information that gets filled by rumor, unverified statements — and doubts. Secrecy breeds suspicion.

A reasonable person might suspect that the department is withholding information not to protect the integrity of any investigation, including the Critical Incident Task Force’s work, but to keep the department from looking bad.

Already, a rally is scheduled for Friday evening at Boise City Hall. If the Boise Police Department were the least bit open and transparent, maybe there would be no need for such a rally, or maybe it would have a different tone.

By staying so silent, police create problems that don’t need to be there.

This is not about the media getting details in order to sensationalize this tragic event. We’re talking about basics. Certainly, general information beyond 15-word sentences could be shared about what police were investigating that night, what happened at the vehicle and what transpired as Wasson fled. That hardly would compromise any investigations.

And this is not even about the media. The family of Payton Wasson deserves answers. The community that police serve on a daily basis deserves answers to maintain trust in the department.

Compare how the Boise Police Department has handled the Wasson shooting with how the San Antonio Police Department handled a fatal police shooting just a day earlier.

At 2 a.m. Friday, June 23, in that Texas city, three police officers shot at a suspect who died.

In less than 16 hours, the San Antonio police chief held a press conference with details about the shooting, including the sequence of events that led up to it, the number of officers involved, the officers’ actions, the name and age of the suspect who was shot and killed, the names of the officers who fired their weapons, the years of experience of each officer and the number of times the suspect was shot.

It’s worth noting that the three officers in San Antonio were arrested and charged with murder, which might provide even greater reason to withhold information, as criminal charges are pending.

The police chief offered his condolences to the victim’s family and made a special assurance to the victim’s daughter that a thorough investigation would be made.

And the department released bodycam footage that day — just hours after the shooting.

The police chief made it clear that he wouldn’t be taking any questions because “this is an ongoing investigation,” and reporters respected that statement. The information he provided was enough.

It can be done.

If the San Antonio Police Department can be that transparent, the Boise Police Department certainly could strive for more than “suspicious vehicle” and “officers ... gave commands for the suspect to stop.”

Statesman editorials are the unsigned opinion of the Idaho Statesman’s editorial board. Board members are opinion editor Scott McIntosh, opinion writer Bryan Clark, editor Chadd Cripe, newsroom editors Dana Oland and Jim Keyser and community member Mary Rohlfing.