BOISE, Idaho — Late Thursday night, KTVB learned of a third arrest made by Twin Falls police in connection to the shooting and prisoner escape at a Boise hospital early Wednesday morning.
According to Twin Falls County, Tonia Huber, 52, was arrested on eluding authorities charges, as well as possession of a controlled substance.
No further information was provided about her arrest, or involvement with Skylar Meade and Nicholas Umphenour, the two men arrested Thursday afternoon. All three suspects will make their first court appearances Friday in Twin Falls County.
In a news conference Thursday, Boise Police Department (BPD) announced that law enforcement officials captured the two suspects involved in the coordinated escape of a prison inmate at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise Wednesday, which resulted in three law enforcement officers being shot and injured, according to police.
At approximately 2 p.m. Thursday, suspects Skylar Meade and alleged accomplice Nicholas Umphenour were located and arrested in Twin Falls County following a short vehicle pursuit. Both were taken into custody successfully, police said.
Additionally, Idaho State Police (ISP) said they are being investigated for potential involvement in two northern Idaho homicides, one in Clearwater County and one in Nez Perce County.
"We did find the shackles at the scene of one of the homicides, so that's one of the ways we tied them together," ISP said.
ISP said two deceased men were discovered in "rural Idaho, not inside of city limits.” More information about those deaths is expected to be released soon.
Law enforcement officers found the car the two used to escape, a gray 2020 Honda Civic, near Leland, Idaho. Idaho where they then acquired a different vehicle and fled the area.
One suspect was the escaped inmate, Skylar Meade, the other was Nicholas "Moose" Umphenour, whom police suspect shot Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) officers and acted as an accomplice in the escape of the IDOC inmate, according to BPD.
Officials said both Umphenour and Meade are affiliated with the Aryan Knights, with Meade boasting the tattoos A and K for the Aryan Knights on his abdomen, and numbers 1 and 11, representing A and K in the alphabet.
"We believe that this was a coordinated attack, ambush on Department of Correction officers," Boise Police Department Chief Ron Winegar said of the escape. "Certainly a planned endeavor to free him from custody."
The escape plan was possibly coordinated when the two were in prison together.
The two suspects had a housing overlap from December 2020 through January 2024 – where both individuals were housed in an Idaho Maximum Security institution, at times sharing the same housing unit, according to Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) Director Josh Tewalt.
Tewalt took accountability for potential errors within the facility and prison institutions. He said it is of high priority to review how IDOC could have been better prepared for such an incident.
“The Aryan Knights are one of the multiple security threats we monitor,” Tewalt noted. “Their gang involvement does not necessarily mean that this was some gang-sanctioned event.”
Skylar Meade, Nicholas Umphenour and Tonia Huber will be arraigned in Twin Falls County Court Friday at 12:30 p.m., according to Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs.
Watch the full news conference from Thursday below or on the KTVB YouTube channel.
What happened:
At approximately 2 a.m. Wednesday, March 20, Meade was transported by ambulance to Saint Alphonsus to receive medical treatment for self-inflicted wounds to his face and body, according to IDOC Director Josh Tewalt. Two IDOC officers accompanied Meade in the ambulance with additional armed IDOC staff following behind.
When asked by KTVB if Meade deliberately injured himself as part of a plan to get out of the correctional facility, an IDOC representative responded, "At this point in the investigation, that appears to be accurate."
After Meade was treated, IDOC staff were preparing to transport him back to the prison when an unknown suspect, later identified as Nicholas Umphenour, fired gunshots at officers hitting two of them, BPD said.
BPD officers responded to Saint Alphonsus after receiving reports of an active shooter. According to police, one officer fired their weapon at an armed man he saw at the scene. That individual was later identified as an IDOC employee. He was not seriously injured. IDOC said their officers were in uniform at the time of the shooting.
Three officers in total were injured, according to police. Officials said one officer is in critical but stable condition, another sustained serious, but non-life-threatening injuries, and the third officer that was allegedly struck by a BPD officer received care for the non-life-threatening injuries, BPD said.
KTVB also inquired if Meade was in restraints at the time of the attack and/or when he fled, to which Kuzeta-Cerimagic said, "To the best of our knowledge, he was in restraints while being escorted out of the hospital. Once the investigation is complete, we will have opportunities to evaluate policies and practices, but our initial review shows that our staff followed our policies and procedures."
Who is Skylar Meade?
Meade was being held in administrative segregation - or solitary confinement - at Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna, because officials deemed him a threat to fellow inmates and a severe security risk, according to Tewalt.
Meade was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2017 for aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer with a firearm enhancement. He was found guilty of shooting at a Twin Falls sheriff's sergeant during a high-speed chase.
Prior convictions include felony possession of a controlled substance, grand theft and introduction of contraband to a correctional facility.
Blue Alert:
Idaho State Police issued a Blue Alert following the incident, as the search remains active. Blue Alerts are issued when police are looking for a suspect or suspects involved the death or serious injury of a peace officer. The alert has since been lifted.
Deputies from the Valley County Sheriff's Office (VCSO) were dispatched Wednesday morning to assist neighboring agencies in a possible sighting in Idaho County of the suspects, according to a Facebook post by VCSO at 3:15 p.m. Wednesday. The tip did not produce any leads as to the suspects' whereabouts. Officers have since returned to their jurisdiction.
The hospital was placed on a temporary modified lockdown, but the scene has since been secured and operations are back to normal. In a statement from Saint Alphonsus, they stated the incident happened in the ambulance bay of the hospital. They said that all staff and patients are safe.
The Critical Incident Taskforce (CITF) is investigating the incident, among various local and regional law enforcement agencies.
Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or Ada County Dispatch at 208-377-6790.
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