Idaho prison gang member and accomplice arrested after hospital ambush

An Idaho prison gang member and an accomplice who fled a Boise hospital on Wednesday in a brazen escape that left three corrections officers shot were arrested Thursday, according to authorities, who said they were investigating whether the men killed two people while were at large.

The episode began around 2 a.m. Wednesday, when Idaho Department of Correction officers took Skylar Meade, 31, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence, to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho, for medical treatment. said Wednesday.

As the officers were about to take him back to jail, authorities say they were attacked by someone later identified as Nicholas Umphenour, 28. Three officers were shot — two by Mr. Umphenour and one by a police officer who was nearby. arrived at the hospital after the ambush, authorities said. Mr. Meade and Mr. Umphenour, who had been jailmates for about four years, fled before Boise police officers arrived at the hospital, police said.

While Mr Meade and Mr Umphenour were at large, police warned that the two men were considered “armed and dangerous”. They were captured without incident Thursday around 2 p.m. after a brief vehicle chase in the Twin Falls area, about 120 miles (190 kilometers) southeast of Boise, Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar said at a meeting. news conference.

Lt. Col. Sheldon Kelley of the Idaho State Police said at the news conference that authorities are investigating whether separate killings of two men — one in Nez Perce County and another about 100 miles northeast in Idaho’s Clearwater County — are linked to Mr. Meade and Mr. Umphenour.

Col. Kelley said shackles found at the scene of one of the killings helped authorities determine a possible link to the two suspects.

The names of the two men killed were not released Thursday and it is unclear whether the victims had gang ties.

The Clearwater County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that deputies found one of the men dead Wednesday around 8 p.m. after they were asked to conduct a welfare check. The Nez Perce County Sheriff’s Office referred questions about the killing there to the Idaho State Police.

Josh Tewalt, director of the Idaho Department of Correction, said at the news conference that one of the injured officers was released from the hospital Wednesday evening and that the two other officers were in stable condition and improving.

Authorities were still trying to determine how the hospital ambush unfolded. Mr. Tewalt said authorities believe Mr. Meade and Mr. Umphenour had worked together to orchestrate the attack.

“We know with near certainty that this was not an accident,” Mr. Tewalt said. “This was a planned event.” Charges are pending against the two.

Mr. Meade and Mr. Umphenour were housed at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution between December 2020 and January 2024, Mr. Tewalt said. He added that they likely shared some acquaintances and were both members of the Aryan Knights, a white supremacist prison gang based primarily in Idaho, according to the League against defamation.

Mr. Meade had served time for aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer with a firearms enhancement, and he had previous convictions for possession of a controlled substance, grand theft and introducing contraband into a correctional facility, Boise police said. He had been in prison since October 2016 and was serving a sentence through October 2036, police said.

It was unclear why Mr Umphenour had been in prison. He was released on January 17, 2024, according to the Idaho Department of Correction.

Mr. Tewalt said authorities were investigating whether Mr. Meade and Mr. Umphenour had communicated using smuggled cellphones.

“We know there are ways in which they are trying to thwart our procedures and our security measures,” Mr. Tewalt said, “and that’s what we’re trying to figure out now.”