Homicide suspect arrested after chase

A suspect who is believed to have shot to death at least one man in Coeur d’Alene’s midtown district around 7 p.m. Thursday was taken into custody by Idaho State Police after a pursuit that ended near Gozzer Road and Highway 97.

Neither Coeur d’Alene police nor Idaho State Police released the name of the suspect before press time, but officers said the suspect was believed to have committed robbery earlier in the evening at the 2900 block of West Fairway Drive in Coeur d’Alene. The victim reported his vehicle, a black-and-tan Ford Explorer, was taken at gunpoint.

As police investigated the robbery they received a report at 7:20 p.m. of a possible fatal shooting at Third Street and Roosevelt Avenue in midtown.

“The suspect information for the shooter was consistent with the robbery,” Coeur d’Alene Police Sgt. Jared Reneau said.

Officers found a dead man at the scene of the shooting, and a second man had already been transported to Kootenai Health, police said.

Meanwhile, state police chased the Ford east on Interstate 90, and then south on Highway 97. According to reports shots were fired, and the Explorer left the roadway and rolled. The suspect was taken into custody.

Police detectives were at the midtown scene at 10 p.m. continuing their investigation.

Idaho State Police Capt. John Kempf said his troopers were “all OK,” despite reports that an ISP trooper was injured in the Gozzer Road incident.

Kempf tweeted around 9:37 p.m. that a sergeant suffered minor injuries.

“Tonight ISP Troopers were involved in a shooting and pursuit of a homicide suspect on HWY 97,” Kempf tweeted. “The suspect was taken into custody with minor injuries. An ISP Sgt. also suffered minor injuries.”

He said a North Idaho police task force was investigating the incident. The road was blocked for several hours Thursday evening.