Three Dead, Seven Injured in Idaho In-N-Out Burger Shooting; Bystanders Praised for Intervention

Police have praised an off-duty state trooper and an armed member of the public for returning fire on the gunman who killed three people and injured seven more at an In-N-Out Burger in Twin Falls, Idaho, Saturday.

Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks said the two bystanders who had intervened in the active shooting were heroes at a press conference Sunday.

“We believe their actions helped drive the suspect away from the scene, preventing further casualties,” Hicks said.

“We want to take a moment and commend the actions of the off-duty officer and the citizen, and their heroic action to stop this incident.”

Neither party has been officially named, nor the three victims, although In-N-Out Burger President Lynsi Snyder said in a statement that a staff member and two customers had been killed in the tragedy.

“My heart is broken, my chest is heavy, my eyes burn from the tears I’ve shed,” she 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.

“He shot both on our property and off and ended his life shortly after he took the precious lives of our associate and customers, innocent people who never saw it coming.

“In-N-Out will be mourning with the families and praying for them as they tread through a very painful season.”

An eyewitness described seeing a woman in an In-N-Out uniform who was bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest being dragged across the parking lot by a colleague to receive medical attention from paramedics.

“She was pretty bad off, but I don’t know,” the witness said. “I hope she made it.”

Two of the injured are understood to be in hospital in a critical condition.

Hicks said multiple people had called 911 at around 2:29 p.m. Saturday to report the attack. “Dispatchers could hear screaming and reports of gunshots in the background,” he revealed.

The shooter – subsequently identified as Chad Williams, 24 – died of a self-inflicted shotgun wound shortly after attacking the restaurant but no motive for his actions has yet been determined.

He is believed to have acted alone.

The FBI, which is assisting the case, has opened a tip portal, with Hicks appealing for anyone with information to come forward, saying: “Even the smallest detail may be important to our investigation.”

The branch in question had only opened on July 24 and was situated on Blue Lakes Boulevard North inside a busy shopping plaza, with hundreds of people nearby when the first shots were fired.

Twin Falls is a community of about 56,000 people, located roughly 130 miles southeast of Boise.