Idaho officer shoots, kills Whitefish man
Bobby Atkinson | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 11 years, 5 months AGO
<p class="byline">Investigators inspect the scene of a shooting Wednesday on Interstate 90 near Lookout Pass. The driver of the orange Scion was shot to death by an Idaho State Police trooper during a struggle over a handgun. The vehicle has Flathead County license plates.</p>
An Idaho State Police officer shot and killed a Whitefish motorist Wednesday near Lookout Pass as a sheriff’s deputy struggled with the man over a gun.
Alexander L. Mandarino, 26, was killed in the incident around noon Wednesday on Interstate 90 about two miles west of the Montana-Idaho state line.
Mandarino was the son of Monte Mandarino and Laura Blankenship, both longtime Whitefish residents. He was a 2005 Whitefish High School graduate and had attended the University of Montana.
Kootenai County Sheriff’s Lt. Stu Miller said Shoshone County dispatch received a call to check on an orange Toyota Scion with Flathead County license plates that was parked peculiarly in an eastbound turnout with the front tires off the pavement.
A Shoshone County deputy arrived at the scene with the Idaho State Police officer, and while talking to Mandarino, the two officers saw he had a handgun, Miller said.
During a struggle to take the gun, the Idaho State Police officer shot Mandarino. Miller said it’s unknown how long the struggle lasted or how many shots were fired.
Mandarino was rushed to Shoshone Medical Center in Kellogg, Idaho, where he was pronounced dead soon after arrival.
Neither law officer was injured. Both are now on administrative leave.
Phil Edholm, Lookout Pass president and chief executive officer, was heading to Wallace, Idaho, from Lookout Pass around the time of the shooting. Edholm said as he was passing the turnout, he noticed a man being questioned while standing between a state trooper and a sheriff’s deputy.
Investigators were on the scene for several hours Wednesday. The multi-agency Critical Investigation Team is handling the investigation, and the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office is the lead agency.
An autopsy was performed Thursday afternoon but results are not yet available. Toxicology results will not be available for six to eight weeks.
Miller asked that anyone traveling along Interstate 90 who witnessed the incident contact the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office at (208) 446-1300.
Miller said law-enforcement checks on vehicles are fairly common since drivers traveling I-90 frequently stop in the turnouts to sleep.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.