Idaho inmate and suspect still at large after escape during hospital attack

Idaho police are searching for a state’s prison inmate and alleged accomplice after three state Department of Corrections officials were injured as the inmate and his accomplice fled from a Boise hospital.

The Boise Police Department identified the inmate as Skylar Meade. He has been incarcerated for aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer with a firearm enhancement. He was previously convicted of felony possession of a controlled substance, grand theft and introduction of contraband into a correctional facility.

“He is a documented gang member and with the Aryan Knights,” Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar said during a press conference.

The incident started early Wednesday morning when corrections officers were beginning to transport Meade back to IDOC after he received medical treatment at a local hospital. Idaho Department of Corrections director Josh Tewalt said the night before the incident, Meade engaged in what Tewalt described as “self-injurious behavior.”

Meade was transported to the hospital for medical care. There another suspect “attacked and fire at the officers, striking two of them,” according to Boise police.

A third corrections officer was injured when Boise police responded to reports of an active shooter as the hospital was placed on lockdown. One officer discharged his weapon at an armed person who was near the entrance. The department said the person near the entrance was later identified as a corrections official.

Meade and the other suspect, who police later identified as Nicholas Umphenour, fled from the scene in a gray four-door sedan. “One officer, shot by the suspect is in critical but stable condition. The second officer has serious, non-life-threatening injuries and the third officer has non-life-threatening-injuries,” Boise police said.

“This brazen, violent, and apparently coordinated attack on Idaho Department of Corrections personnel, to facilitate an escape of a dangerous inmate, was carried out right in front of the Emergency Department, where people come for medical help, often in the direst circumstances,” Winegar said in a written statement.

Winegar said that the two suspects are “armed, dangerous, and have shown they are willing to use extreme violence.” Police are still searching for the suspects and their whereabouts are unknown.

Officers obtained an arrest warrant for Umphenour for two counts of aggravated battery against law enforcement and one charge of aiding and abetting. The warrant has a $2 million bond.

According to the Idaho Department of Corrections, Meade was eligible for parole on Oct. 14, 2026. Prior to the incident, Tewalt said Meade was housed in administrative segregation, which is the highest custody level at IDOC. “That’s not a determination by your criminal history. It’s a classification that’s earned by your behavior in custody.”

Anyone with information is asked to call Ada County Dispatch at 208-377-6790.