Police in Twin Falls, Idaho, have released edited surveillance and bodycam footage of a mass shooting at an In-N-Out Burger restaurant that left three people dead and ten wounded last weekend. The eight-and-a-half minute video compilation, presented at a Friday news conference by Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks, shed new light on the chaotic sequence of events and highlighted several acts of civilian bravery that may have limited the death toll.
The gunman, identified as Chad Williams, 24, approached the drive-thru window four times, opening fire on each occasion and killing an In-N-Out employee. The violence spread rapidly — victims were shot inside the restaurant, directly outside, on an adjacent busy road, and at a car charging station in a nearby visitor centre lot. At least three people confronted Williams with their own weapons during the attack, including an off-duty state trooper who exchanged gunfire with him through the drive-thru window and directed restaurant workers to safety, and former police officer A.J. James, who was wounded while running toward the gunfire. An armed civilian had also previously been credited with firing back and diverting Williams away from the restaurant. Williams ultimately fled to a nearby walking trail, where he killed himself as officers closed in. His body was found near a canyon.
Among the most striking moments captured on video was an encounter on the trail between Williams and Braxton Steube, an employee from a neighbouring Dick's Sporting Goods store who had fled there as the shooting unfolded. Steube, who was unarmed, stood with his hands raised and spoke directly to the gunman. "I said, 'I have a family. You don't have to do this. I'll tell you whatever you want. I'll do anything,'" Steube told a local television station. Williams appeared to well up before telling him to get away, then fired at Steube and missed. Hicks credited Steube's composure with buying precious time for others to escape. "To that young man, you are a hero," the chief said.
The three people killed were Ashley Garibay, 23, of Stockton, California; Dale Schultz, 66, of Salt Lake City; and Christopher Claunch, 59, of Hagerman, Idaho. Investigators say they still have no established motive. Williams had briefly attended the College of Southern Idaho and previously lived in Arizona.
The Twin Falls In-N-Out, located roughly 210 kilometres southeast of Boise, the state capital, had only opened in July as part of the fast-food chain's expansion into Idaho. Hicks described the day as one that should have been a "normal Saturday afternoon" for workers and visitors alike. The release of the footage, though edited to blur faces and remove the most graphic imagery, underscores the broader national conversation in the United States about mass shootings and the role bystanders — armed and unarmed — play when law enforcement has not yet arrived.