By Tim Stelloh—
NBC News
"I guess I'm going to lose my gun again," an Idaho officer said minutes after she shot and killed a knife-wielding man whose family had asked authorities for help because they said he was having a mental health crisis. .
The shooting and comments were caught on police cameras;
NBC News obtained the videos through a public records request from the Lewiston Police Department.
The agency reviewed the fatal shooting of
Michael Trappett,
48, at his parents' home on Jan. 31 in Orofino, a city of about 3,100 people in northern Idaho.
[“For the future of the white race”: the perpetrator of the shooting in Buffalo wrote in a letter what motivated him to carry out the massacre]
Last month, the Latah County District Attorney determined Clearwater County Sheriff Brittany Brokop's actions were justified and she returned to normal patrol, Clearwater County Sheriff Chris Goetz said in a statement.
She was placed on administrative leave in February.
Randall Carruth, a second officer who shot Trappett, was also acquitted by the prosecutor and returned to patrol duty.
Say goodbye to police officers killed during shooting in El Monte, California
June 16, 202202:05
Brokop also appears to have been cleared of blame in a 2020 shooting while working for the same sheriff's office, putting her in a rare class of law enforcement officers who fire their service weapons more than once.
The man who was shot in that case, 23-year-old Andrew Hull, first spoke about it to NBC News, saying
"She pulled that trigger as fast as she could."
[Three Adults, One Teen Arrested in Death of 80-Year-Old Woman During New Orleans Graduation]
"It went from 0 to 110 in a minute, and the next thing I knew I was shot," he said, adding that the bullet hit his right thigh, narrowly missing the femoral artery.
Michael Trappett with his rescue bulldog. Courtesy of the Trappett Family via NBC News
"I was three inches from death
," said Hull, who was intoxicated at the time of the shooting.
Authorities said Hull was combative and pulled a handgun from a holster before the sheriff's deputy fired.
Neither Brokop nor Clearwater County Sheriff Chris Goetz responded to requests for comment.
The Idaho chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police also did not respond to a request for comment.
The Idaho State Police, which investigated the Hull shooting, referred questions about the Hull shooting to the department's public records unit.
The agency has not yet provided the documents.
Court records of the criminal charges filed against Hull confirmed Brokop's role in the shooting.
[Alabama church shooting leaves at least two dead and one wounded. The suspect was arrested]
Authorities from the prosecutor's office in neighboring Latah County, who reviewed the fatal shooting in January, said Trappett posed a deadly threat when he came within 10 feet of Brokop and Carruth.
Efforts to contact Carruth for comment were unsuccessful.
In a federal lawsuit filed last month,
Trappett's family accused the sheriff's deputies of excessive use of force
and other allegations.
"We believe that Brittany Brokop should be held accountable for her actions," said Trappett's brother, Bill Trappett,
"she went too far."
The family also wants the sheriff's office to strengthen its de-escalation policy, he added.
Suspect in Buffalo supermarket shooting charged with hate crimes
June 15, 202200:24
In an April statement, the sheriff called the family's notification of a lawsuit "false" and said Trappett was trying to "attack" officers when they fired.
Goetz added that Michael Trappett has a "history of threatening and aggressive behavior" toward authorities, though it is unclear which incidents Goetz is referring to.
Bill Trappett said he only knew of one recent incident at a hospital, when his brother was intoxicated and yelled at hospital staff for having to wear a gown.
In that case, the agents approached him and put him in a straitjacket, he said.
But Michael Trappett was not arrested, and his anger was directed at everyone, not just law enforcement, Bill Trappett said.
[Maryland Plant Shooter Completed Shift Before Killing Three of His Coworkers]
legal but horrible
It's not clear from the video whether Michael Trappett intended to attack the officer, said a use-of-force expert who was not familiar with the case but who reviewed the video for NBC News.
Brokop seemed to be closing in on Trappett too quickly, said Justin Nix, a criminology professor at the University of Nebraska Omaha.
"It happens quite a bit: officers rush in and make bad tactical decisions," Nix said, "they have to go out shooting to protect themselves."
The expert said he was not surprised that the shooting was determined to be justified because Trappett had an edged weapon.
Many in law enforcement espouse a theory known as the 21-foot rule: If a person has a knife and is within 21 feet, they can attack faster than you can draw your gun and shoot.
Man Who Planned to Kill Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh Says He's Upset About Uvalde Shooting
June 9, 202200:34
The theory is not supported by strong evidence, he said.
“But if you believe that logic, why is the agent chasing you so closely?” she questioned.
About
30%
of the approximately 1,000 fatal police shootings that occur each year in the United States involve
people with knives and non-firearms, he
warned.
Trappett's death appears to belong to a class of "legal but horrific" shootings that departments should try to prevent, she added.
[A woman tracked her boyfriend with an electronic device and then ran him over and killed him]
“I would like to see a greater effort to train officers not to rush, to go slower,” he criticized.
Showdown in 2020
Hull described himself as a recovering alcoholic who was going through a rough patch when he went to a friend's property to shoot for target practice on March 25, 2020.
Hull got into a screaming fight with a man on the road, he said, and his wife called 911, according to the sheriff's office, and when deputies arrived, they found Hull with what he described as a . 45 in a thigh holster.
According to the release, Hull "confronted" the officers, refused to follow instructions, and removed the gun from its holster.
Sheriff's deputies got into an altercation with Hull, resulting in Hull being shot, according to the sheriff's office.
This 5 million dollar mansion was from 'The Lord of the Skies'.
For 200 pesos it can be yours
June 16, 202201:42
Hull said he was intoxicated and "extremely loud."
He believed the officers were telling him to drop the gun on him, so he grabbed it from her and tossed it out of his reach, he said.
“The next thing I know, they both jumped on me,” he recounted.
Brokop had his gun pointed at him, he said, and a second officer tried to shoot him with a stun gun.
According to an arrest affidavit, Hull was wearing a bulletproof vest, and the stun gun had no effect.
[“It burned their mouths and throats.” An Alaskan elementary school serves floor sealer instead of milk for breakfast]
According to the affidavit, a struggle ensued and Hull attempted to grab Brokop's gun.
Hull said the officer fired three times before hitting him and that he tried to grab the gun so he wouldn't be shot.
According to the affidavit, Hull tried to grab the officer's gun.
He doesn't say how many times he fired.
Hull said it was unclear whether the officers knew he had dropped the gun on him, and the affidavit does not address the issue.
Hull was charged with aggravated assault on certain personnel and taking a firearm from a law enforcement officer, according to the document.
He served approximately one year in prison.
Hull has questioned Brokop's actions the night he was shot, saying he believes Trappett's death was unnecessary.
"There are ways to handle things, and that was not the way to do it," he said.
On video: A teenager saves the life of a woman who fell with her car in a Long Island bay
June 16, 202200:47
A distraught family asks for help
Bill Trappett, 52, said his brother battled
bipolar disorder and drank heavily
when he fell into a deep depression.
In January, Michael Trappett — a certified nursing assistant who cared for his parents and loved animals — lost a beloved pet, a rescue bulldog that was hit by a car, his brother said.
[A 7-month-old baby who disappeared while crossing the border into Tijuana with her parents is found alive]
The night of the shooting, Michael Trappett was reeling from the loss, and his mother, tired of him drinking, threw his alcohol away, Bill Trappett said.
When he left her house with a knife, she called 911. According to the family's lawsuit,
Jackie Trappett called because she was worried her son might hurt himself.
Bill Trappett said that his brother had attempted suicide several times in his life.
In the camera video, the two officers can be seen looking for Michael Trappett outside the family home.
His sister alerted the agents to his mental illness through a phone call.
The second deputy sheriff can be seen and heard telling a neighbor that Michael Trappett “has lost his mind.
We want to make sure he's not here terrorizing people."
Minutes later, Trappett appears in front of his parents' house and walks toward the agents with one hand in his pocket.
He stops several feet from them.
"Good night... everyone is going to die": the chilling stories of child survivors of the massacre
May 27, 202200:49
“Show me your hands, Michael,” the officers yell.
Trappett takes a knife out of his pocket and the agents tell him to drop it.
"Shoot me," he says, along with a series of expletives.
“We don't want to shoot you, man,” Carruth replies, “just talk to us.
What's going on?"
Trappett walks to the side of the house and the agents follow him.
When he turns around and appears to start raising his right arm, knife in hand, the officers open fire.
Trappett collapses.
According to the family's lawsuit, 15 shots were fired.
After pointing out that he would lose his gun again, Carruth tells Brokop, "We didn't have a choice."
"No," Brokop replies, "he didn't give us a choice."
Trappett's parents, who were home when their son was shot, initially agreed with this assessment, although they had questions about why he was shot multiple times and why officers didn't try to use a stun gun, Bill Trappett said.
In the months that followed, he added, they came to believe that the shooting “was clearly preventable.
They had every option to de-escalate."
