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Police are investigating two homicides that could potentially be linked to an Idaho inmate and his accomplice who allegedly helped him escape from a hospital visit on Wednesday by shooting at state corrections officers, police say.
Following a 36-hour manhunt, the inmate, Skylar Meade, and the alleged shooter, Nicholas Umphenour, were captured Thursday afternoon in Twin Falls, Idaho, two hours away from where Meade escaped as he was discharged from Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, authorities said.
The coordinated attack and escape happened early Wednesday morning as Meade was being escorted from the hospital by corrections officers who had taken him there the previous night after he engaged in “self-injurious behavior” at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, according to Josh Tewalt, director of the Idaho Department of Correction.
The three Idaho corrections officers escorting him were ambushed by a gunman who shot two of them before the inmate and his accomplice fled in a getaway car, police said.
After Meade and Umphenour were captured, police announced Thursday they’re investigating two homicides “potentially tied to the escape” that happened in the last 24 hours in different locations in Nez Perce and Clearwater counties.
Meade’s shackles were found at one of the homicide scenes and the men had possession of the car of one of the victims, according to Lt. Colonel Sheldon Kelley of the Idaho State Police. The county coroner will later be providing details on the men’s identities and how they died, he said.
The two suspects were apprehended “before their path of destruction could get any wider,” Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar said during Thursday’s news conference.
In addition to the the two officers allegedly shot by the suspect, officials said a third corrections officer was wounded by gunfire from a responding police officer. Two of the officers were in the hospital in stable condition on Thursday and the third officer was released Wednesday night, Tewalt said.
Here’s what we know about the escape and the investigation so far:
Meade and Umphenour have ties to the White supremacist group Aryan Knights, according to Tewalt. The Aryan Knights is a White supremacist prison gang based primarily in Idaho, according to the Anti-Defamation League. It’s “one of multiple security threat groups” that the Idaho Department of Correction monitors, Tewalt said.
In addition to the White supremacist group ties, Meade and Umphenour had common acquaintances in custody and in the community, according to Tewalt. The men also shared a housing unit at some point at the corrections facility between December 29, 2020, until Umphenour’s release on January 17, 2024, Tewalt said.
Meade was sentenced in October 2016 for aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer with a firearm. He has many prior convictions, Winegar said, and is a documented gang member. He was due to be released in 2036.
Meade has the numbers “1” and “11” tattooed on his face, a reference to the group, Winegar noted.
More information on Umphenour’s criminal history and his time in prison will be provided in the coming days, authorities said at Thursday’s news conference.
Umphenour is now accused of aggravated…
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