Updated

Updated · East Idaho News · Aug 3

Twin Falls Police Identify 24-Year-Old Gunman, Hail 2 Armed Citizens for Limiting Idaho Shooting

Updated

Updated · East Idaho News · Aug 3

Twin Falls Police Identify 24-Year-Old Gunman, Hail 2 Armed Citizens for Limiting Idaho Shooting

Q: What dark motive drove a 24-year-old to unleash tragedy at a highly anticipated Idaho restaurant just days after its opening?

The motive is not yet known. Police in Twin Falls have identified the gunman as 24-year-old Chad Williams, said they believe he acted alone, and confirmed he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but investigators have not determined or publicly released what drove the attack. What is established is the scale and setting of the violence. The shooting erupted Saturday afternoon at the newly opened In-N-Out Burger in Twin Falls, just over a week after the restaurant’s July 24 opening. Three people were killed, including an employee, and seven others were injured. Authorities said the scene was crowded, with potentially hundreds of people nearby in the busy shopping plaza. Investigators have said witness interviews, video evidence and digital tips are still being reviewed. Police Chief Matthew Hicks said the motive remains under investigation, and the FBI has asked the public to submit photos and videos from the area. So far, officials have not said the restaurant itself, its staff, or specific victims were definitively targeted. Authorities have credited an off-duty state trooper and an armed bystander with returning fire and pushing the gunman away from the area, likely preventing more deaths. For now, the darkest answer is also the most accurate one: the reason for the attack remains unresolved, and any stronger explanation would be speculation beyond the evidence released by police.

Q: How did the split-second intervention of an armed bystander alter the deadly trajectory of the Twin Falls mass shooting?

The armed bystander appears to have disrupted the shooter’s momentum at a critical moment and likely reduced the number of victims. Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks said the bystander, along with an off-duty state trooper, returned fire and helped drive the gunman away from the restaurant. Police said that intervention likely prevented more casualties. Witness Lane Koehn gave a clearer picture of how: he said the shooter became “solely focused” on the man with the handgun, looking panicked and moving erratically instead of continuing to fire at people trapped in the drive-thru and parking lot. That split-second shift mattered because the shooting unfolded in a crowded shopping plaza and near a packed drive-thru line at a newly opened restaurant. Koehn said bullets struck a car in front of him and that the armed civilian’s fire gave nearby motorists and customers time to escape. In his account, people who might otherwise have remained exposed were able to pull away or run for cover while the gunman’s attention was diverted. The intervention did not stop the tragedy: three people were killed and seven others were injured. But based on police and witness accounts, it changed the attack from an unchecked mass shooting into a disrupted one. By forcing the gunman to react, reposition and retreat from the immediate crowd, the bystander helped break the shooter’s line of attack and narrowed the window in which he could keep firing at civilians.

3 articles · Updated · East Idaho News · Aug 3

Twin Falls police said 24-year-old Chad Williams died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after Saturday's attack near the newly opened In-N-Out Burger that killed three people and wounded seven.
Two armed responders — an off-duty Idaho State Police trooper and a private citizen — returned fire, and authorities said their actions drove Williams from the scene and likely prevented more casualties.
Witnesses described people fleeing into nearby businesses and the visitor center as shots rang out, with employees locking doors and families hiding in back rooms while calling 911.
Police said Williams acted alone and are still investigating a motive, as local officials urged residents to support one another after one of Idaho's deadliest recent mass shootings.