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Multiple dead, others injured in shooting at In-N-Out in Twin Falls, Idaho, officials say
Multiple people were killed and others were injured in a shooting Saturday afternoon at an In-N-Out in Twin Falls, Idaho, according to officials.
The shooter is dead, said Josh Palmer, the city’s public information officer, and all shelter-in-place orders have been lifted.
“We believe that the threat to the community is over,” Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks told reporters Saturday evening.
“We are working to try to ascertain his identity and the motivations behind that,” he added.
Duane Rubink, chief of the neighboring Jerome Police Department, told CNN “it appears there was one shooter who is deceased from a self inflicted gunshot.” The scene is under investigation, he said.
Twin Falls authorities have not provided the exact number of fatalities but earlier told CNN at least three people had been killed. It’s unclear if the shooter was included in that initial number.
An In-N-Out employee was among those killed, In-N-Out Burger president Lynsi Snyder said in a statement.
“My heart is broken, my chest is heavy, my eyes burn from the tears I’ve shed,” Snyder wrote. “We lost one of our beautiful Associates tonight. She was taking care of our most important asset - our Customers, and her life was taken by a disgusting human who doesn’t value the lives of others or his own.”
Snyder said the shooter fired both on and off the property of the In-N-Out location and “ended his life shortly after he took the precious lives of our Associate and Customers, innocent people who never saw it coming.”
Saturday’s shooting unfolded in one of Twin Falls’ busiest commercial areas, a stretch of the city’s north side filled with hotels, national retailers and restaurants that serve residents and travelers alike. Located approximately 130 miles southeast of Boise, Twin Falls is a regional hub for much of southern Idaho.
The highly-anticipated burger chain had been open for only a week at its Twin Falls location, its new storefront quickly becoming a local destination before the violence.
Video showed customers and In-N-Out workers, distinguishable by their red aprons and branded paper hats, running frantically into the parking lot as several shots were heard.
The FBI has established a digital media tip line and is urging members of the public with information to submit any videos, photos or audio that captured the shooting.
Witnesses describe panic
Dominic Gonzales was sitting in a car with his two younger brothers, waiting for his sister to come back from ordering, when he heard the first shots.
“We were just sitting there, I was playing on my phone when I heard a couple pops and I look up and I see a gentleman walking from a white vehicle to another vehicle with a pistol in his hand,” Gonzales told CNN affiliate KMVT. The man fired a shot at a vehicle, he said.
“I told my two brothers to duck down,” Gonzales said. He kept glancing up to track where the gunman was, he said, then threw himself across the front of the car — “just to take up space so if anything did come flying I was there.”
His sister, Jaylyn Sanchez, had just ordered food and stepped into the restroom when the gunfire began. As people screamed and cried, others crowded into the restroom beside her, and they tried to barricade the door. When they were told it was safe, she ran out through the drive-thru line — and directly into the shooter’s path.
“As I was running I faced the shooter head on and he pointed the gun at me,” Sanchez said. “I ducked behind a white car just to have some sort of coverage.” She said she saw a pistol resting on a gun case she believed belonged to the shooter.
“I didn’t have anything to protect myself so I grabbed the gun and I pulled it back,” she said. “It was jammed so I just felt helpless. I saw the truck in front of me so I got in the car and left.”
The incident joins a growing list of shootings in recent months that have sent people fleeing from ordinary places: a food festival, parades, places of worship and community gatherings across the country.
Palmer advised the public to stay vigilant for more updates from police.
“I would caution people, we’re seeing a lot of misinformation on social media, so just be cautious,” he said.
The Twin Falls Police Department had urged residents to avoid the area, saying nearby roads and the Perrine Bridge, the primary crossing over the Snake River Canyon for miles, were closed.
In a statement to KMVT on Saturday, In-N-Out said it was working with investigators. “We are heartbroken. Our prayers go out to our Customers, our Associates, and all of their families,” said Danney Warnick, the company’s chief operating officer. “We are working with the Twin Falls Police Department to assist in the on-going investigation.”
Some of the state’s representatives in Washington, DC, said they were thankful and praying for first responders.
“I’m grateful for the swift response of Idaho’s first responders,” Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo wrote on X.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Amanda Jackson, Amanda Watts and Sharif Paget contributed to this report.
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