2 homicides could be tied to escaped Idaho inmate and accomplice captured after manhunt, police say. Here’s what we know

Police are investigating two homicides that could potentially be linked to an Idaho inmate and his accomplice who allegedly helped him escape from a hospital visit on Wednesday by shooting at state corrections officers, police say.

Police are investigating two homicides that could potentially be linked to an Idaho inmate and his accomplice who allegedly helped him escape from a hospital visit on Wednesday by shooting at state corrections officers, police say. Following a 36-hour manhunt, the inmate, Skylar Meade, and the alleged shooter, Nicholas Umphenour, were captured Thursday afternoon in Twin Falls, Idaho, two hours away from where Meade escaped as he was discharged from Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, authorities said. The coordinated attack and escape happened early Wednesday morning as Meade was being escorted from the hospital by corrections officers who had taken him there the previous night after he engaged in “self-injurious behavior” at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, according to Josh Tewalt, director of the Idaho Department of Correction. The three Idaho corrections officers escorting him were ambushed by a gunman who shot two of them before the inmate and his accomplice fled in a getaway car, police said. After Meade and Umphenour were captured, police announced Thursday they’re investigating two homicides “potentially tied to the escape” that happened in the last 24 hours in different locations in Nez Perce and Clearwater counties. Meade’s shackles were found at one of the homicide scenes and the men had possession of the car of one of the victims, according to Lt. Colonel Sheldon Kelley of the Idaho State Police. The county coroner will later be providing details on the men’s identities and how they died, he said.