Police release bodycam video from Boise mall shooting
By: The Boise Police Department on Thursday released bodycam video from the October 2021 Boise Towne Square mall shooting. Police also announced the officer who used deadly force against the shooter, Jacob Bergquist, was "justified in his actions."
Police said Bergquist killed two people and injured three others during a shooting spree on the afternoon of Oct. 25, 2021.
According to a Boise Police release last October, an officer that fired back at Bergquist watched him hide behind a dumpster, where he heard a shot fired. Bergquist died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to the Ada County Coroner's office in records obtained in a public records request by KTVB.
The two victims of the shooting were identified as 26-year-old Jo Acker and 49-year-old Roberto Padilla Arguelles.
On Wednesday, Boise Police said the Twin Falls County Prosecuting Attorney determined the officer that fired back at Bergquist was “not only lawfully attempting to apprehend a violent felon and defend other Law Enforcement Officers, but was acting in self-defense and to stop an ongoing shooting spree which had taken the lives of two citizens and was a threat to the lives of others.”
The bodycam video begins with a message from Chief Winegar, followed by a timeline showing the events that transpired after dispatch received the report of a security officer shot.
The video shows two officers on body cameras, including 'Officer 2,' who fired his weapon during the incident. The two officers were traveling in the same patrol car, according to Boise Police.
In the first 30 seconds of the bodycam video, there is no audio. The video shows 'Officer 1' leaving the patrol car from the passenger side after seeing Bergquist shooting towards him, police said.
Officer 1 moves around and behind the vehicle, with gunfire ringing out in the background. The officer navigates around a nearby building, until the suspect can be seen firing at officers as they enter a parking lot, BPD said. The Boise Police officers then leave the patrol car.
According to BPD, Officer 2 fired one shot towards Bergquist, "before his firearm became inoperable." The officer then tried to hit the suspect with his patrol car.
The footage released Wednesday shows the inside of the patrol car with glass on the driver-side floor and seat. It also shows the windshield of the patrol car with a bullet hole.
One officer's hat was hit by a bullet fired by the suspect. The officer suffered an eye injury and was taken to a local hospital.