Trooper Chris Glenn, Idaho State Police

Trooper Chris Glenn, Idaho State Police

Shot Idaho Officer Critical; Suspect Captured


Updated: December 21st, 2006 10:29 AM EDT


Courtesy of KTVB

Link to KTVB.com

TWIN FALLS, Idaho-- An Idaho State Police trooper was shot during a traffic stop just south of Twin Falls this morning. This after an armed robbery at a nearby gas station.

The series of events span two states and left two men hospitalized - the trooper and the accused gunman.

The shooting took place in the Magic Valley and the arrest of the suspect took place in Jackpot, Nevada.

Armed robbery at Twin Falls gas station

Idaho State Police say an armed robbery occurred at the Stinker Station on Shoshone on the south side of Twin Falls this morning. Trooper Chris Glenn was shot just after 7 a.m. after he pulled over a suspect vehicle in that robbery.

After the robbery, police issued an attempt to locate on the suspect vehicle. At the time of the dispatch, Glenn was on his way to work and heard the call on his radio and spotted a vehicle matching the description.

Glenn stopped the vehicle on Highway 74 near mile marker 4. He was driving a marked police car, but Glenn was wearing plain clothes during the traffic stop because he was supposed to spend the day training a junior officer.

Shortly after pulling the suspect over, backup officers from Twin Falls Police arrived on the scene and found Glenn shot in the neck.

"We all felt a sense of loss and a sense of pain today with this incident," said ISP Capt. Ked Wills.

Glenn has been with the Idaho State Police for four years and has a wife and a three-year-old son.

"It's amazing how trooper Glenn was respected and loved in this office. And our thoughts got out to him and his family," said Wills.

The investigation is being conducted by the Twin Falls County Sheriff's Office.

Police pursuit ends in Jackpot, Nevada

After the shooting, the 24-year-old suspect fled south down US 93 toward Jackpot, Nevada.

A trail of shattered glass and beer cans signifies the end of a 45-mile pursuit and the site where a dramatic crash not only landed Adam Ted Mower in the hospital, but also in police custody.

"Right here on the south side of Jackpot, he hit a semi, rolled about 50 yards before it came to a rest," said Ed Grudgell, Twin Falls County undersheriff.

Police say the suspect was driving over 100 miles per hour, attempting to elude police. Upon crashing, the suspect's vehicle came to rest on its top.

"He was trapped in the vehicle. They said he looked pretty bad," said Grudgell.

It took emergency crews nearly 40 minutes to get the suspect out of the mangled vehicle. While they worked, five separate law enforcement agencies from Idaho and Nevada spent the morning and afternoon piecing together the string of events that ended in this border town.

An accident investigation is fairly routine for many of these officers, but knowing this one sprung from the shooting of one of their own, makes this accident more personal.

"A lot of people that work that streets know each other, so it's kind of a friendship thing too," said Grudgell.

Late this afternoon, Mower was charged with aggravated battery upon a police officer, eluding police and robbery.

Trooper flown by helicopter to Boise

Both the trooper and the suspect were airlifted to St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise.

Glenn was transported by helicopter and arrived around 10 a.m. About four hours later the man accused of shooting him was also brought to St. Al's.

Glenn is listed in critical condition as of Wednesday evening.

His boss, Colonel Dan Charboneau, visited Glenn in the intensive care unit and said he was doing "very well," and that the long-term prognosis from the gunshot wound would be revealed over the next several days or weeks.

"He's awake, he's alert, he recognized me. I told him I loved him and I thanked him for being there this morning to protect the citizens of Idaho and he acknowledged that," said Charboneau.

Officers from numerous law enforcement agencies have been coming and going from the hospital all day long, showing their support for Glenn and his family. For support, law enforcement agencies from as far away as Oregon State Police have sent crews Twin Falls to assist the investigation.

Republished with permission of KTVB.

 

12/21/2006

12/28/2006