Foster to stand trial for shootings

SANDPOINT — A Blanchard man accused of ambushing two Bonner County sheriff’s deputies in a hail of gunfire was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on two counts of attempted first-degree murder.

Adam Deacon Foster is scheduled to be arraigned in 1st District Court on Sept. 5. He remains jailed in lieu of $2 million bail.

Deputies Michael Gagnon, Justin Penn and William Craffey sought to arrest Foster on an outstanding warrant outside his home on Mountain View Road on Jan. 16 after he allegedly make remarks about intending to harm his mother and a neighbor.

Deputies crossed paths with a vehicle in which he was a passenger and followed the vehicle to his home. Deputies ordered to Foster to show his hands and get on the ground, but Foster disregarded the commands and said he needed to speak with his mother before surrendering.

Foster, 31, bolted around the side of his house and deputies Gagnon and Penn gave chase.

Dash camera footage from Gagnon’s patrol vehicle showed Foster disappearing around the front corner of the home. Deputies Gagnon and Penn began to follow but abruptly fell to the ground when they were struck by incoming gunfire. The video did not show Foster opening fire because of his concealed position.

“The next thing I remember was being on the ground on my stomach, wondering what was going on,” Gagnon testified.

Gagnon received one gunshot to the center of his chest, but the projectile was stopped by a “trauma plate,” an add-on component to bulletproof vests which are meant absorb and disrupt the kinetic energy of a bullet’s impact.

Gagnon was shot two more times from Foster’s Ruger Redhawk .44 magnum.

Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall asked who drew first blood during the confrontation. “He absolutely shot first,” said Gagnon.

Deputy Justin Penn, who was also wearing body armor, testified that he was felled by a gunshot to the chest that first traveled through the top of his hand. A second shot struck his right flank and tore through a canister of pepper spray, sending tainted shrapnel into his body.

“It burned like I’ve never felt before,” said Penn.

Della Holly Bee, who was driving the vehicle Foster had been a passenger in, told Judge Justin Julian that she saw Foster flee from the officers, but lost sight of him when he rounded the corner of the house. However, she testified that she saw both officers drop and the exchange of gunfire.

“I watched both officers fall,” Bee said.

Foster was injured when deputies returned fire and surrendered without incident. Craffey, who was undergoing field training, was not injured in the gunbattle.

During cross-examination of Penn, Chief Public Defender Janet Whitney asked if the deputy was aware Foster was experiencing extreme paranoia and delusions.

“I wasn’t completely aware of it,” said Penn, who admitted he had a bad feeling about Foster’s arrest.

Neither the state nor the defense offered any argument and Julian found it was more likely than not that Foster committed the crimes he’s charged with, setting the stage for a district court trial.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.