On the late morning of March 18, 2016, 60-year-old David Alma Giles of St. Anthony died after a struggle over a patrol car shotgun in a hospital parking lot in Idaho Falls. Giles was being taken for mental health treatment and was reported to be suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. While riding in the front seat of a Jefferson County patrol car, Giles became increasingly agitated and confrontational as they neared Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.

Giles allegedly tried to put his hands around the captain’s throat, was pushed back into the vehicle, and then grabbed the officer’s duty shotgun from its rack after the locking mechanism failed. Wolfe deployed pepper spray and a struggle over the weapon continued outside the patrol car; the shotgun discharged and struck Giles in the chest. He was taken into the hospital but died from the wound.

The Bonneville County Prosecutor’s Office investigated and cleared the deputy of wrongdoing; no arrests were made and the officer was not treated as a suspect. Are there witnesses who saw what happened in the parking lot or who can provide more detail about the events leading up to the shooting?