A knife, a fake gun, and a mental health crisis. Investigations detail 3 fatal shootings

One had a fake gun. Another had a mental health crisis. A third threatened police with a knife. They were all fatally shot by police.

The Canyon County Critical Incident Task Force investigations into three fatal shootings — which cleared all of the seven officers involved — were completed about a year ago, but none of the investigating or involved agencies informed the public.

The Canyon County Sheriff’s Office investigated two of the three shootings, and Idaho State Police investigated the other. The shootings, which occurred in the summer of 2021 and early 2022, involved the Nampa Police Department and the Owyhee County Sheriff’s Office.

Both the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office and Nampa Police Department told the Idaho Statesman they don’t have the practice of notifying the public when a CITF investigation is completed. The Owyhee County Sheriff’s Office and Idaho State Police didn’t respond to the Statesman’s requests for comment.

In Ada County, the Boise Police Department typically issues a press release when a CITF investigation is complete, and the Ada County Sheriff’s Office created a website where completed reports are uploaded.

6 were shot by police in Boise area last year. Where are the investigations now?

Woman fatally shot after mental health crisis

Dawn Simpson promised a deputy with the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office she’d call him if she needed anything. Less than 3 hours later, the 51-year-old woman was shot in the head by three Nampa police officers, according to the CITF report.

Around 9:30 a.m. on July 16, 2021, two Canyon County deputies located Simpson’s navy blue Jeep Patriot near Lake Lowell Park in Nampa after her stepdaughter had called the police, concerned that Simpson was having a mental health crisis, according to a police report from the agency.

Deputies Justin Wright and Trayton Meyers approached Simpson, who said she was out running errands, the report said. Meyers noticed that Simpson had several unspent shotgun shells in the cup holder of her car, but officers didn’t see a shotgun in the car.

Wright eventually let Simpson go because he said she didn’t meet the criteria to be placed on hold. Simpson’s stepdaughter told Wright that Simpson was diagnosed with bipolar mania after her wife died in 2019, and it had progressed into schizophrenia. The stepdaughter also said Simpson hadn’t been taking her medication.

By noon, the Nampa Police Department had dispatched four officers to a neighborhood south of Nampa along Teakwood Street after receiving a report that Simpson was trespassing at her mother’s home, according to Critical Incident Task Force reports from Idaho State Police.

Three Nampa officers — Ricky Zodrow, Cole Lowe and John Guju — located, pursued and eventually shot and killed Simpson. Nampa Police Patrol Sgt. Michael Phillips was also at the scene but did not fire his weapon.

Guju, during his interview with state police, said that his prior interactions with Simpson were an “immediate red flag,” and he had a “funny feeling the current call was not going to go great.”

Guju and another officer approached Simpson’s car and told her she was under arrest because she had an active warrant. Guju then opened the rear door of Simpson’s Jeep, which is when she revved her engine and fled the neighborhood — hitting Zodrow’s patrol car on the way out, according to Guju’s interview.

The officers pursued Simpson about a half-mile to Mulberry Lane. When Zodrow and Lowe approached Simpson, she shot at them at least once, according to interviews with the officers. The officers returned fire, shooting between 17 and 20 rounds at Simpson.

Police located a shotgun in Simpson’s lap and later located a black pistol in the car. Simpson’s stepdaughter told the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office that Simpson wasn’t allowed to own a firearm because of a previous felony conviction.

Simpson was transported to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, where she died from a gunshot wound to the head around 3:30 p.m., according to prior Statesman reporting and an autopsy report from the Ada County Coroner’s Office.

Ada coroner identifies Idaho woman shot, killed by Nampa police officers last week

Police fire 20 rounds at 53-year-old Nampa man

It took less than 30 seconds after two Nampa police officers located 53-year-old Vladislav Fomin for them to shoot and kill him, according to the CITF report. The officers in their interviews with the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office said Fomin pointed a gun at them and a Nampa couple.

Around 1 p.m. on Aug. 26, 2021, the Nampa Police Department received a call reporting an aggravated assault in the area of South Elder and East Lincoln streets, near Northwest Nazarene University, according to a narrative report written by the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office. A couple, who was out driving looking for their lost dog, called the police after they said Fomin “racked the gun and began waving it around” while walking toward them.

Nampa police officers Cade Renner and Rodger Holscher located Fomin in the driveway of 325 S. Banner St. at 1:06 a.m., according to the report. Holscher was one of six officers who shot at Richard Bigby-Garcia two months earlier in July 2021.

Renner in his interview said that as he approached in his vehicle, Fomin turned toward them aggressively and pointed the gun at Holscher. He described the gun as a black semi-automatic handgun.

The officers fired a total of 20 rounds with two bullets fatally striking Fomin in the head and heart, according to an autopsy report. Another bullet grazed his right shoulder. Fomin died at the scene from his injuries after life-saving measures were unsuccessful.

Holscher and Renner in their statements said they thought something was off about Fomin’s gun after the shooting. Holscher noted that the gun felt lighter than it should have when he kicked it away, and Renner said he wondered whether the gun was fake.

Police later determined that Fomin was carrying a 1911-style airsoft gun — which typically has a bright orange tip, but it was painted black. Airsoft guns can be created to look like an ultra-realistic firearm and can even shoot BBs.

Washington County Deputy Prosecutor Fred Wheeler in a letter said officers had no way of knowing that Fomin was carrying a fake firearm and cleared them of any wrongdoing. Washington County was the office assigned to review the investigation.

“In this instance, whether as police officers or as private citizens, Holscher and Renner reacted reasonably to the threat Fomin appeared to pose when he raised the weapon,” Wheeler said. “The state would not be able to prove under these facts that homicide was not justifiable.”

Renner didn’t turn his body camera on. Holscher’s body camera was turned on, but Fomin isn’t visible in the video because he’s blocked by the vehicle.

The only footage of the incident is from a neighboring home’s Ring Doorbell. Following the shooting, several Nampa officers canvassed the neighborhood for any additional witnesses or potential video footage.

Wheeler said that nothing in the Ring Doorbell footage contradicts the officers’ statements or Holscher’s body camera, but he noted that Fomin is “barely visible” in the video.

Canyon County coroner identifies Idaho man shot, killed by Nampa police last week

Murphy man was ‘belligerent’

Three days into 2022, two Owyhee County sheriff’s deputies — Deputy Richard Demurjian and Lt. David Reed — shot and killed 54-year-old Charles Corey Castro.

The deputies were trying to serve him a restraining order for a previous domestic violence incident. A 10-page Critical Incident Task Force supplemental report detailed an interaction Castro and the sheriff’s deputies. Law enforcement described Castro as “belligerent, argumentative and at times confrontational.”

Demurjian said Castro became angry after being informed of the protective order, and that he would need to leave the Murphy home that day. Toward the end of the hour-long encounter with Castro, he fell to the ground and began “moaning and screaming.”

Castro then grabbed a “large kitchen knife,” according to the report.

Castro began moving toward Reed and “executes several stabbing motions with the knife,” the narrative said, while deputies commanded him to stop and drop the knife.

Reed told Castro that if Castro didn’t drop the knife, he would be shot, the report said. Castro then charged toward the officers, who fired their guns. One of the bullets struck Castro in the head, according to the report. He was hit by a total of four bullets.

Canyon County investigating officer-involved shooting that killed Murphy man