Nathan Thomas Kaas, 48, a longtime lieutenant with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, died on October 12, 2025, during an off-duty hunting trip in rural Clark County near Dubois, Idaho. Before dawn he and a companion were preparing to hunt mule deer in the Caribou–Targhee National Forest when a rifle being taken out of its case discharged. The round struck Kaas in the leg and he bled to death before paramedics arrived.

Witnesses described the shooting as accidental and said the shot was fired by a relative or hunting partner. Clark County’s sheriff said the leg injury proved fatal because of hemorrhage at the scene. Officials and media coverage in eastern Idaho and southern California emphasized Kaas’s law-enforcement career and described the event as a tragic mishap on public land. No arrests or criminal charges had been announced as of mid-October 2025.

If anyone was in the Dubois area the morning of October 12 and saw or heard anything related to the hunting party, please share what you know.