Investigators were searching Thursday for a person who stole an ambulance and crashed it into an Idaho office building leased by the Department of Homeland Security in what authorities called a targeted attack.
Someone stole a Canyon County Paramedics ambulance from St. Luke’s Medical Center in Meridian, just west of Boise, around 12:30 a.m., according to authorities. No one else was in the ambulance.
According to Meridian Chief of Police Tracy Basterrechea, the suspect “retrieved gas cans stashed around vegetation.” The suspect then drove the ambulance into a nearby building leased for DHS, including workspace associated with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Meridian authorities said the suspect tried but failed to light the accelerant and ignite the gas cans. Gasoline appeared to be poured in and outside of the ambulance, but the suspect appeared to be scared off by first responders and fled the scene.
During a news conference Thursday afternoon, authorities said they believe this was a targeted attack on DHS property.
Staff from the Seattle field office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were on the scene.
Ebony Davis is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked at CNN as a campaign reporter covering elections and politics.