Rambo shooting footage made public

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COEUR d’ALENE — For the first time, body camera footage from the night police shot then-18-year-old Tyler Rambo in City Park is available to the public.

Nicole Ellis, Rambo’s mother, posted three videos on Facebook Wednesday morning. The videos, each about 16 seconds in length, show the shooting from different angles.

The footage is also archived on www.cdapress.com.

“It makes me sick to my stomach,” Ellis told The Press. “There is no way he deserved that.”

A jury found 20-year-old Rambo not guilty last week of second-degree attempted murder and aggravated assault.

The charges stemmed from the Fourth of July celebration at City Park in 2019, where Rambo reportedly fired a revolver during a physical altercation.

Rambo was found guilty of three counts of aggravated assault of a peace officer. The jury also added an assault with a deadly weapon enhancement.

Ellis said she believes the footage shows that Rambo was not actively threatening police when they shocked and shot him.

“I will continue to maintain my son’s innocence,” she said.

Coeur d’Alene police said Rambo ran from them after the initial shooting and refused to drop his gun or get on the ground.

After police shocked Rambo with a stun gun while his hands were in the air, the gun in his hand went off. Police shot him 14 times in response.

He lost both legs at the hip as a result of the shooting.

“It is important to remember that Mr. Rambo was found guilty of three counts of aggravated assault against a peace officer, with a weapon, by a jury of his peers,” Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White said Wednesday.

Jurors reviewed evidence during the two-week trial, including testimony from witnesses and experts, as well as video from July 4.

Though body camera footage of the shooting was played in court, the videos ended after Rambo’s gun went off, a split second before police returned fire.

“I have no problem releasing this video in its entirety,” White said. “I would’ve been prepared to on July 5.”

However, he said, the prosecuting attorney has instructed the Coeur d’Alene Police Department not to release the footage at this time.

“(Rambo) hasn’t been sentenced yet and he still has appeal rights,” White said. “We want to make sure his rights are protected.”

Now that the footage is public, Ellis said she expects people to form different opinions.

She said she’ll continue to advocate for her son, who remains in jail after Judge Cynthia Meyer denied a request to release him on his own recognizance or lower his bond from $300,000.

“Tyler is everything to me,” she said. “I will never stop fighting for him.”

Rambo’s sentencing is scheduled for May, before Judge Meyer.