LOS ANGELES, United States: U.S. police said Thursday they are searching for a white supremacist who was released from custody after a shooting at an Idaho hospital that injured three prison employees.
Skylar Meade was being taken out of a medical facility after receiving treatment when gunfire started, apparently from inside the hospital’s emergency department.
Boise Police said an attacker — named as Nicholas Umphenour — shot two jail officers, leaving one critically injured before fleeing with Meade in a car. Responding officers initially mistook a prison staffer for a target, opened fire and injured him.
Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar termed the attack brazen, violent and apparently coordinated on Idaho Department of Corrections personnel, to facilitate an escape of a dangerous inmate right in front of the Emergency Department.
He further said officers had rushed into the emergency department, believing Umphenour to be inside, locking down the hospital as they looked for.
He also cautioned all who may have contact with the suspects involved in the violent attack and escape to call 911 immediately and not confront them personally.
He said the accused were armed, dangerous and are willing to use extreme violence in furtherance of their criminal activity.
Meade, a member of the white supremacist Aryan Knights gang with distinctive facial tattoos, was jailed in 2016 for assaulting a law enforcement officer.
His sentence was supposed to end in 2036.
All three injured jail employees are expected to make full recoveries, Winegar said.
