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EDGEMERE, Idaho (AP) — The Bonner County Sheriff's Office has ruled a woman who fatally shot her husband on Tuesday did so in self-defense.
Undersheriff David Hale said the woman shot her husband after being choked, battered and threatened with death.
"We've been working closely with the prosecutor on this and everybody is in agreement that this appears, by all evidence, to be a self-defense situation," Hale told the Bonner County Daily Bee (http://bit.ly/1L1KCrU ) late last week.
Deputies said 55-year-old Scott Spangler on Tuesday was threatening to retrieve a firearm and kill his wife, himself and two 9-year-old children in the home when his wife called 911.
Hale said that when Spangler realized she had called 911, he attacked his wife and threatened her with a pair of sheers. She shot him with a .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol before fleeing the house.
"The operators heard screaming and the sounds of a violent struggle," Hale said.
Police said Spangler was shot twice in the arm and one of the slugs entered his torso.
Hale said that despite being mortally wounded, Spangler continued to attack before losing consciousness. The woman escaped the scene and called 911 a second time.
Emergency responders with the Northern Lakes Fire District attempted life-saving measures but Spangler died at the scene.
"We've reviewed quite a bit of video and quite a bit of audio with this and I can assure you some fairly valiant efforts were performed by the deputies and medical personnel," Hale said.
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Information from: Bonner County (Idaho) Daily Bee, http://www.bonnercountydailybee.com
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