Bystander with a handgun distracted gunman in fatal In-N-Out shooting - NBC News
An armed bystander and an off-duty state trooper intervened during a fatal shooting at an Idaho In-N-Out Burger, potentially preventing further casualties. The shooter, who killed three people, ultimately died by suicide.
Why it matters
The incident serves as a case study in the ongoing debate regarding the role of armed civilians in active shooter scenarios.
TWIN FALLS, Idaho — An armed bystander may have saved lives by distracting a gunman who had opened fire at an In-N-Out Burger on Saturday, according to a witness. Lane Koehn, 34, was at a stoplight just outside the fast-food restaurant when he saw a person with an AR-style rifle emerge from the drive-thru. Bullets struck a car in front of him, and Koehn watched the shooter move through the drive-thru toward his own car, he told NBC News. “I could tell he was trying to figure out where to go, and somebody in the drive-thru line with a handgun was shooting at him,” Koehn said. He described the shooter as “panicked,” looking around and moving “kind of erratically.” Koehn believes the armed bystander kept the gunman from shooting at more people. “The shooter was solely focused on him, and [it] allowed us to get out,” Koehn said.
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