Idaho
Idaho Falls man arrested after allegedly hitting man in the head with baseball bat in fight over guns – East Idaho News
IDAHO FALLS – A 27-year-old Idaho Falls man was arrested Sunday night after he allegedly hit another man in the head after being refused access to his guns.
Augustus Wyatt Gokey was charged with one felony count of aggravated assault causing great bodily harm. If he is found guilty, he faces up to five years in prison.
According to court documents, on Sunday around 10:30 p.m., an Idaho Falls Police officer responded to a report of a man being hit in the head with a baseball bat.
The document states that due to the nature of the call, the officer activated the patrol car’s emergency lights and sirens to get to the home as quickly as possible.
The officer reported that at the property, a man was seen through the window with a “large laceration to the left side of his forehead.”
The document states that the wounded man signaled the officer into the home. Once inside, the officer yelled, “Police!” and another man came out of the kitchen.
The man was later identified as Gokey. The officer reported that Gokey was “immediately agitated and appeared to be under the influence of something due to his large pupil size and profuse sweating.”
The officer asked Gokey if he had any weapons on him, and he responded he did not. The officer patted him down and found no weapons. He was later placed in handcuffs.
The officer spoke with the man who was hit, who was “bleeding pretty badly,” and when the officer asked if he needed any medical attention, he denied it.
Another officer arrived and began treating the wounded man, and the first officer spoke with Gokey.
Gokey told the officer that he’d been going through a lot, which involved “an ex-girlfriend having a child and that there were 30 men after him that he was afraid of.”
The officer asked who these men were, but Gokey told him he’d never tell.
When the officer asked him what happened at the home, Gokey said he was there to pick up a shotgun that he had stored at a safe, as he did not feel safe at his home.
Gokey told the officer the other man told him he could not have the gun and that the other man allegedly attacked him and pushed him away from the safe.
The officer asked how the other man got hurt, and Gokey said when he pushed the man off him, he fell and hit his head on a rowing machine in the basement near the safe.
When questioned about the baseball bat, Gokey said he brought it for protection and denied ever hitting the other man with it.
The officer said that during the interview with Gokey that he appeared to become irate and yell about things other things and had an odor of alcohol coming from him.
Gokey was later placed in the patrol car after he refused to calm down.
While being placed in the backseat of the patrol car, the officer asked Gokey if he had been using any drugs. Gokey replied he wasn’t and that he’d been clean for years, though he said he’d used heroin and fentanyl in the past.
The other officer who helped the wounded man told the first officer his side of the incident.
According to the man, Gokey came to the victim’s home to pick up a gun and had the baseball bat.
The victim refused to give the firearm to Gokey due to “his mental and physical state he was in, because he did not want anyone to get hurt.”
After the refusal, the man said Gokey had grabbed a grinder tool and was trying to get into the safe with it. The man told him to stop, and that’s when he said Gokey grabbed the bat.
Gokey waved the bat around in a motion, making it appear as if he was going to hit the man. The two then got into a scuffle over the bat, and at one point, he allegedly hit the victim in the forehead.
The document states there was blood on the barrel and the handle of the bat. The bat itself was taken as evidence.
Gokey is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing before 7th Judicial District Magistrate Judge Stephen Clark at 1 p.m. on March 28.
Though Gokey has been charged with these crimes, this does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
=htmlentities(get_the_title())?>%0D%0A%0D%0A=get_permalink()?>%0D%0A%0D%0A=htmlentities(‘For more stories like this one, be sure to visit https://www.eastidahonews.com/ for all of the latest news, community events and more.’)?>&subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20EastIdahoNews” class=”fa-stack jDialog”>
Idaho
Idaho is in for a streak of clear skies next week
After a round of showers came through this week, the Gem State is staying dry and clear for next week.
Temperatures finally started to feel winter-like as we take a tumble this weekend. Consistent 40’s the highs, and 20’s the lows.
Conditions on the valley floors are not expected to get past the mid 40’s. Showers appear to be nonexistent for the next 7 to 10 days.
We will also see some air stagnation in our area, meaning that as a high-pressure ridge moves in, not too much change is expected in the air. So, air quality may take a bit of a fall.
Not much more than cold and dry air is on the way for Idaho, but at least the sun will shine for most of the forecast.
Have a great weekend and stay warm!
Idaho
Interstate 84 near Mountain Home back open after utility work
MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — Interstate 84 near Mountain Home is back open after crews closed the freeway due to utility work.
Crews closed westbound and eastbound lanes on Saturday morning from milepost 90 to milepost 95 due to Idaho Power working on power lines in the area, according to the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office. All lanes are now back open in both directions.
The sheriff’s office and the Mountain Home Police Department apologized for the inconvenience, saying they were just informed of the closure on Saturday morning.
More information regarding road closures and traffic conditions can be found at the Idaho Transportation Department’s 511 map.
Copyright 2026 KMVT. All rights reserved.
Idaho
Idaho murder victims’ families file wrongful death lawsuit against Washington State University
The families of the four University of Idaho students killed in a brutal 2022 stabbing attack have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Washington State University (WSU), alleging the school ignored repeated warning signs about Bryan Kohberger.
The civil complaint, filed Jan. 7 in Skagit County Superior Court, was brought by Steve Goncalves, father of Kaylee Goncalves; Karen Laramie, mother of Madison Mogen; Jeffrey Kernodle, father of Xana Kernodle; and Stacy Chapin, mother of Ethan Chapin.
The lawsuit accuses WSU of gross negligence, wrongful death and violations of federal education laws, including Title IX. The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified monetary damages.
Attorney Robert Clifford, senior partner at Clifford Law Offices, said that the decision to leave damages “unspecified” is a strategic norm in high-stakes litigation because it prevents the focus from shifting towards sensationalism and keeps the decision firmly in the hands of the jury.
“Ultimately, that’s to be determined and answered by the jury,” said Clifford, who is not involved in the lawsuit. “But you have some compelling facts and the liability is going to depend on the strength of what the school knew.”
Despite Kohberger’s guilty plea in the murders, Clifford explained the civil case remains strong because the families face a lower burden of proof – requiring only a preponderance of evidence to establish the university’s liability.
“The mere fact that he pled guilty might not even be admissible in the civil proceeding because he’s not the defendant, right? If he is a defendant in the civil proceeding, then his plea of guilty will be important. And indeed, this school might try to use that to say, ‘See, it wasn’t our fault. He admits that it was his fault.’ But the bar is different for someone in a criminal proceeding than it is in a civil proceeding.”
According to the lawsuit, WSU hired Kohberger as a teaching assistant in its criminal justice and criminology department and provided him with a salary, tuition benefits, health insurance and on-campus housing.
The victims’ families allege the university had extensive authority over Kohberger’s conduct but failed to act despite mounting concerns.
Here’s the latest coverage on Bryan Kohberger:
The complaint says WSU received at least 13 formal reports accusing Kohberger of threatening, stalking, harassing or predatory behavior toward female students and staff during the fall 2022 semester. The families argue university officials did not meaningfully investigate those complaints or remove Kohberger from campus before the murders – even though they had the authority to do so.
The lawsuit also alleges that the university failed to use its own threat-assessment systems designed to identify individuals who pose a risk of violence, even as concerns about Kohberger escalated. Instead, the families claim, the university continued to employ him, house him and give him access to students.
“The murders were foreseeable and preventable,” the complaint states, alleging WSU prioritized avoiding legal and reputational risk over student safety.
The lawsuit also alleges broad failures within the public university, including alleged dysfunction within campus police and compliance officers who are responsible for handling accusations of misconduct, including sexual harassment and stalking.
Kohberger pleaded guilty in July 2025 to four counts of first-degree murder and burglary. He was sentenced to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutors said Kohberger stabbed the four students in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, inside an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho, just miles from the WSU campus in Pullman, Washington.
Kohberger was arrested in Pennsylvania in December 2022 following a multi-state investigation.
Authorities linked him to the crime through DNA evidence, surveillance video and cellphone data showing repeated late-night trips near the victims’ home.
WSU has not yet filed a response to the lawsuit. Fox News Digital has reached out to WSU for comment.
-
Detroit, MI1 week ago2 hospitalized after shooting on Lodge Freeway in Detroit
-
Technology5 days agoPower bank feature creep is out of control
-
Dallas, TX2 days agoAnti-ICE protest outside Dallas City Hall follows deadly shooting in Minneapolis
-
Dallas, TX6 days agoDefensive coordinator candidates who could improve Cowboys’ brutal secondary in 2026
-
Delaware2 days agoMERR responds to dead humpback whale washed up near Bethany Beach
-
Iowa5 days agoPat McAfee praises Audi Crooks, plays hype song for Iowa State star
-
Health7 days agoViral New Year reset routine is helping people adopt healthier habits
-
Nebraska4 days agoOregon State LB transfer Dexter Foster commits to Nebraska