Boise accountability office releases 2017 shooting report

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The recently formed Office of Police Accountability for the city of Boise has released a report on a March 2017 shooting that found the six officers involved acted in self-defense.

The accountability office formed in July 2021 and recently came under scrutiny when the Idaho Statesman reported the office never publicized its findings for multiple police shootings.

The newspaper reported Monday that the accountability office released a report on the shooting in the Boise foothills where six officers fired 68 rounds, killing 42-year-old Benjamin Christian Barnes. The report said Barnes shot and killed a dog and threatened hikers, and when police arrived shot at them. Police returned fire.

Jesus Jara, director of the Office of Police Accountability, signed off on the four-page report that said six officers approached Barnes, who was hiding in brush. Barnes didn’t comply with police commands, the report said.

Barnes “pointed a handgun at officers and ultimately began shooting at them,” the report said. “All six officers who were in contact with him discharged their weapons in self-defense. The actions of the involved officers stopped the deadly threat to the public.”