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MERIDIAN, Idaho — A house in rural south Meridian, Idaho, burned with an elderly woman inside Wednesday night after police shot at a prowler outside the house and he went back inside, authorities say.
The woman was unable to escape the house, the Ada County Sheriff’s Office said. The prowler’s whereabouts were not known Thursday morning.
Here’s what the sheriff’s office said happened: A resident of the house in the 1500 block of West Amity Road called 911 about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday to report the prowler. The caller said she heard pounding at the door and could hear someone trying to break in but didn’t know who it was.
Kuna police and Ada County sheriff’s deputies arrived soon after and found a man holding a long gun leaving the house. An argument followed. Deputies told the man several times to drop his weapon but he refused. Police fired at him but aren’t sure if they hit him or if he fired back. He went back into the house and refused to come out.
Officers made contact with the woman who called. She said she and two other people were in the house, and none of them knew who the man was or why he broke in.
By 10:45 p.m., the house had caught fire with the prowler and the three residents barricaded inside. Deputies broke windows and helped two adults get out. The elderly woman was not among them.
