Three killed, two injured in Idaho shopping area shooting; gunman dead

A gunman opened fire in a busy commercial area in Twin Falls, Idaho, on Saturday, August 1, killing three people and injuring at least two others before dying, authorities said. The shooting unfolded at around 2:30 p.m. local time near an In-N-Out Burger restaurant in a high-traffic shopping district, Reuters reported citing the city's public information coordinator, Josh Palmer.

About an hour after the initial reports, "it was determined that the shooter was no longer a threat," Palmer said. Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks later told reporters that the shooter was dead and that the threat to the community had ended.

Speaking during a press conference, Hicks said he did not know the exact death toll. Palmer, however, told the news agency that three people had been killed and at least two others were injured.


Videos shared by witnesses appeared to show a man carrying a long gun near the scene of the shooting.


Other clips circulating online, which users claimed were recorded during the incident, appeared to show an armed civilian firing a handgun in Twin Falls.


The Twin Falls Police Department had urged residents to stay away from the area, saying nearby roads and the Perrine Bridge, the primary crossing over the Snake River Canyon for miles, had been closed. The department also said on Facebook that roads surrounding the scene and a nearby bridge were shut in the immediate aftermath of the incident.

The shooter was among the dead, Hicks said. Investigators are working to identify the gunman and determine the motive behind the attack. Following the shooting, some of Idaho's representatives in Washington, DC, expressed gratitude for emergency personnel responding to the attack.

“I’m grateful for the swift response of Idaho’s first responders,” said Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo on X.


Twin Falls, home to about 56,000 residents, is located roughly 130 miles southeast of Boise and about 75 miles north of the Nevada border.