SANDPOINT — Criminal proceedings against a Blanchard man accused of shooting two Bonner County sheriff’s deputies are on indefinite hold amid questions of mental health.

Defense counsel for Adam Deacon Foster moved for a mental health evaluation to determine his capacity to understand the proceedings and assist in his own defense.

“The foregoing motion is brought on the basis that the defendant is having difficulty determining what is real and not real, and has been suffering from this incapacity for over a year,” Chief Public Defender Janet K. Whitney said in the Jan. 27 motion.

Judge Debra Heise granted the motion on Jan. 30, court records indicate. The court’s order calls for Foster to undergo an examination by a Coeur d’Alene clinical psychologist to determine Foster’s mental health status and render an opinion as to Foster’s capacity to understand the proceedings and to assist in his own defense. The psychologist’s report is due in 30 days.

Meanwhile, the prosecution of Foster is on hold until further notice by the court.

Foster, who’s charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, is being held at the Kootenai County jail with bail set at $2 million. A preliminary hearing set for Wednesday is being vacated and won’t be reset until Foster’s fitness to proceed is determined.

Foster, 31, is accused of wounding deputies Michael Gagnon and Justin Penn during an exchange of gunfire at Foster’s Blanchard home on Jan. 16. Both deputies were seriously wounded, although they have since been released from the hospital.

Foster was also injured and hospitalized following the shootout.

Foster made an initial court appearance in Bonner County Magistrate Court on Jan. 26 and disputed that Gagnon and Penn were involved in the incident and that he was confronted by “thugs” in plainclothes who planned to murder him.

A family member and a neighbor raised concerns about Foster’s mental health in January 2016, court records show. A relative of Foster’s said he had been using methamphetamine and believed people were attempting to poison him.