POCATELLO — Police have identified the knife-wielding man fatally shot by an officer during a Friday afternoon disturbance near downtown Pocatello.

Matthew Planer, 52, of Pocatello, died at the apartment building where he resided in the 700 block of West Center Street after being shot once in the chest by a Pocatello police officer, Police Chief Roger Schei said during a Sunday afternoon press conference at City Hall.

The incident occurred around 12:45 p.m. Friday when Pocatello police were called to the apartment building after a woman who resides there reported that an intoxicated Planer had knocked on her door and taken her cell phone, Schei said.

The woman said she subsequently used physical force to retrieve her cell phone from Planer before police arrived, Schei said.

When police got to the apartment building, they found Planer in his apartment and told him that he would be cited for his behavior. During a subsequent conversation with a Pocatello police officer in Planer’s apartment, Planer became increasingly agitated and grabbed a medium-sized chef’s knife from his kitchen sink, Schei said.

When Planer raised the knife toward the police officer in a threatening manner, the officer shot him once in the chest, Schei said.

Life-saving efforts were immediately provided by police but Planer died at the scene, Schei said.

No police officers were injured during the incident.

Schei did not provide the name of the officer who shot Planer or provide any information on the officer’s level of experience.

West Center Street in the area of the incident was shut down by police for several hours as they investigated the shooting and the public was asked to stay away.

At the direction of police because of the shooting, School District 25 temporarily placed nearby Irving Middle School on hall check, a heightened state of security in which students stay in their classrooms.

The shooting is being investigated by the Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Task Force, an organization including several local law enforcement agencies that investigates officer-involved shootings that occur in the region. The Idaho Falls Police Department is the lead agency in the investigation. Pocatello police said they will also launch an internal review of the shooting.

The shooting occurred exactly one week after a Bingham County sheriff’s deputy shot a high-speed chase suspect on Highway 39 west of Blackfoot. That Jan. 20 incident occurred when the adult male suspect aimed his car at the deputy, who was outside of his patrol vehicle at the time. The wounded suspect was later apprehended. He was booked into Bingham County Jail in Blackfoot after being released from the hospital.

The last incident in which Pocatello police shot a suspect occurred in May 2022 and involved a man armed with an AR-15 opening fire on police officers who were responding to a domestic violence incident.

Two Pocatello police officers were seriously wounded by bullets fired from the AR-15 and have since recovered and returned to work. The AR-15 wielding suspect, Todd Vernon Brewer, 46, of Pocatello, was shot by Pocatello police during the incident.

Brewer survived and was charged with two counts of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer. He remains incarcerated at the Bannock County Jail in Pocatello pending the adjudication of his case.

Friday’s incident marks the first fatal officer-involved shooting involving Pocatello police since February 2020 when officers fatally shot Neal Stuart Nevada, 23, of Fort Hall, after he charged at them while wielding a knife.