An Idaho officer who shot dead a mentally ill man holding a knife reportedly responded to the incident with the words “I guess I will lose my gun again.”
NBC News reported on the MP’s comments on Friday, after receiving footage from the body camera of the January 31 incident through a request for public recordings.
Clearwater County Sheriff Brittany Brittany Brokop shot dead 48-year-old Michael Trapet, who had a knife, after Trapet’s family called police, saying their son was experiencing a mental health crisis.
Brokop and his deputy counterpart, Randall Karut, who also shot Trapet, were approved by the Lata County Attorney’s Office, who said their actions were justified by the danger of the situation. They both returned to work.
Prosecutors said Trapet was ordered to drop the knife, but he continued to hold it and approached 10 feet from police before being fatally shot.
Clearwater County Sheriff Chris Goetz also said Trapet had a “history of threatening and aggressive behavior” toward police.
Bill Trappet, Michael’s brother, told NBC that he knew of only one recent incident at a hospital where his brother was intoxicated and behaved aggressively toward people around him. Michael Trappet’s aggression culminated in overcoming law enforcement and putting on a vest.
However, Trapet’s family accused both police officers of excessive force in the January 31 incident, saying Brokop in particular had “gone too far” and called on the sheriff’s office to step up its training and de-escalation policy.
“We believe that Brittany Brokop should be held accountable for her actions,” Bill Trappet told NBC.
A similar situation occurred in 2020, when Brokop was apparently acquitted of wrongdoing by a prosecutor after shooting 23-year-old Andrew Hull while working for the same sheriff’s office, the newspaper reported.
“It went from 0 to 110 in a minute, and the next thing I knew, I was shot,” Hull told NBC, saying Brockup “pulled the trigger as fast as he could.”
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Hull said he was hit in the thigh about three inches from his femoral artery.
Police say Hull, who was intoxicated when Brokop shot him, pulled out a gun and was hostile during his meeting with the deputy.
Brokop did not comment to NBC. Hill turned to the Clearwater County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
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