Nampa police fired about 45 rounds at a man in seconds. They were cleared of wrongdoing

Shortly before midnight on a summer night, six police officers arrived at a home in Nampa. A man pointed a gun at them from inside. And within 5 seconds, officers fired roughly 45 rounds at him.

Documents of an investigation from the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office, obtained by the Idaho Statesman through a public records request, described in detail the moment that led to the June 2021 police shooting. Richard Bigby-Garcia was shot in the thigh after he led an officer on a pursuit and pointed a gun at police.

The Canyon County Sheriff’s Office led the Critical Incident Task Force into the shooting, and the investigation was forwarded to Adams County Prosecuting Attorney Christopher Boyd. In a December 2021 letter to Canyon County Prosecutor Bryan Taylor, Boyd said that the six officers involved in the shooting were “legally justified,” and that no criminal charges would be filed.

The office released over 150 pages roughly a year and a half after the shooting, and over a year after officers were cleared of wrongdoing.

The documents also named the six Nampa police officers who shot at Bigby-Garcia: Cpl. Christopher Kennedy, Arther Correa, Jeremy Miller, Kyle Ferrari, Rodger Holscher and Shane Witt. At least two other officers at the scene — Ian Cole and Erika Grajeda — did not fire their guns. No officers were injured.

Police chase lead officers to Nampa home

At around 11:30 p.m. on July 7, 2021, Cole attempted to pull Bigby-Garcia over in downtown Nampa, according to interviews with Canyon County sergeants Bailey Wilson and Mark Taylor. Cole said that during the short pursuit, Bigby-Garcia failed to pull over, was at one point driving at speeds of 60 to 65 mph, and pointed an AR-15 at him.

“At any given moment, I’m going to have to shoot this guy or he’s going to shoot me,” Cole told Wilson, recalling his thoughts as he pursued Bigby-Garcia.

Bigby-Garcia crashed through a wooden privacy fence, parking and fleeing into his two-story Nampa home.

Multiple units arrived and noticed Bigby-Garcia’s girlfriend, Maurina Releford, in Bigby-Garcia’s pickup truck and asked her to head toward police, according to the Critical Incident Task Force report. Bigby-Garcia then came out of the back door and yelled at the officers with a gun in his hand, officers said in the report.

Bigby-Garcia went upstairs to the west window and, according to several officers who were interviewed, began smashing out the windows. Some officers also said they’d heard the “distinct sound” of an AR-15 being racked.

Shortly afterward, some officers said they saw a “muzzle flash” from the window as if Bigby-Garica had fired his gun, while others said they “heard a shot come from the direction of the residence.”

The eight officers didn’t agree on whether Bigby-Garcia ever fired his gun, according to a narrative written by Wilson. Cole said he never saw Bigby-Garcia shoot his weapon.

The six officers fired roughly 45 rounds at Bigby-Garcia and the home. Grajeda in an interview with the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office characterized the number of shots fired as a “s--t ton.”

A total of 19 bullet holes were located on the west side of the home, according to the CITF report, which matched the positions of the officers who fired their guns. The north and south doors of the home were also “destroyed” by the explosive breach.

It wasn’t until four hours after the shooting that medical professionals were able to assess Bigby-Garcia, according to the report. He had been shot in the left thigh.

Negotiators were able to talk to Bigby-Garcia on the phone but said he was “speaking in circles” and wouldn’t surrender or leave the home, according to the CITF report. The negotiations went back and forth for several hours.

By 2:21 a.m. the Canyon County Critical Incident Task Force was activated and by 3:24 a.m. Nampa’s Tactical Response Team — which was already on the scene — attempted to use explosives to breach open the door to the residence, but it failed. Police then attempted a second breach and were successful.

Bigby-Garcia was then taken to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise around 4:30 a.m. before being booked into the Canyon County Jail.

Several officers in the reports noted that they had previous interactions with Bigby-Garcia and were aware he likely had several firearms. Over half-a-dozen firearms were located in Bigby-Garcia’s home and pickup truck, though some were owned by his girlfriend, according to the CITF report.

Bigby-Garcia suffered from psychotic break, girlfriend says

Bigby-Garcia spent more than a year in jail before taking a plea deal. He pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in exchange for the additional felony — attempting to elude or flee a police officer in a motor vehicle — to be dismissed. A misdemeanor resisting or obstructing arrest charge was also dismissed.

Third District Judge Davis VanderVelde sentenced Bigby-Garcia to five years in prison with the possibility of parole after four years in 2022, according to prior Statesman reporting. He could be released by June 2025.

Bigby-Garcia’s public defender, Abigail Thiry, during the October sentencing said he suffered PTSD from the shooting and has a history of mental health issues.

“I have a lot of clients who spend time in custody, Judge, and a lot of that is wasted time,” Thiry said in October. “They really haven’t been doing much, frankly, besides playing cards and tacking on jail phone calls. But Mr. Bigby-Garcia is the exception to that. This is something where I saw a marked difference in Richard.”

Releford told police after the shooting that Bigby-Garcia had been suffering from a psychotic break for several weeks, and that he didn’t know his own name.

In an initial interview with Bigby-Garcia, he denied being involved in the incident. He said that someone in Nampa is “essentially a body double of him,” and that if anyone believed he was involved that it “must have been his imposter.”