BOISE, IDAHO – Authorities in Idaho on Thursday were searching for a suspect who they said stole an ambulance outside a hospital, slammed the gas on it and drove it into a nearby building that houses the offices of the US Department of Homeland Security.
Meridian Police Chief Tracy Bastrecia did not identify the substance that was poured inside and outside the ambulance. “It appears that the suspect was unable to light the accelerator before being spooked by responding agencies,” he said in a statement.
Police said the incident occurred around 11:10 p.m. Wednesday in the Boise suburb of Meridian.
The suspect took the ambulance from St. Luke’s Hospital and drove it north through the parking lot, Basticcia said. He added that the suspect then recovered gas canisters from nearby plants.
Pictures broadcast on television showed broken glass doors at the entrance to an administrative building.
The building is owned by St. Luke’s Health System, and is one of several in a large mall known as The Portico, adjacent to the hospital. Other tenants at Portico North include health insurance company SelectHealth Inc. And St. Luke’s Home Health and Hospice and Quest Diagnostics.
The hospital has faced criticism for leasing space to the Department of Homeland Security while President Donald Trump’s administration carries out its immigration enforcement push.
“There has been a lot of rhetoric” about the lease issue, Basticcia said, adding that “comments on social media like ‘property damage is not violence’ are completely false.”
He described the incident as a “serious criminal act.”
“This was certainly an act of violence, and if the suspect had not been interrupted, there is no doubt that this building would have burned, putting the lives of first responders and others in danger,” Basticcia said.
He said his department was leading the investigation and working with the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and other agencies.
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McAvoy reported from Honolulu.