The fatal shooting of an Idaho Falls resident by an officer of the Idaho Falls Police Department on Dec. 22 was found to be justified by the Bonneville County prosecuting attorney in a release sent to media Friday afternoon.

Randy Neal, county prosecutor, reviewed all the evidence leading up to the single shot fired by Officer Eric Rose that killed Eduardo “Eddy” Trejo de Arcos, 26, in an apartment at 737 Cleveland St.

A domestic disturbance call resulted in Rose discharging his service weapon one time and hitting the suspect on the left side of his chest. De Arcos died from the shot minutes later.

“There is no evidence that Officer Rose was acting with any motivation other than self-defense,” Neal said.

“Under Idaho law, Officer Rose cannot be placed in legal jeopardy of any kind whatsoever for protecting himself by reasonable means necessary, from becoming the victim of aggravated assault or attempted murder,” Neal said.

The county prosecutor concluded that Rose was protecting himself and other officers from an aggravated assault and/or an attempted murder.

“The evidence also supports the finding that after committing this offense, Mr. Trejo de Arcos resisted arrest and apparently attempted to escape, and posed a threat of serious physical injury to the officer or others,” Neal said. “Thus, deadly force was reasonable.”

Rose, a 13-year veteran, shot de Arcos after he lunged forward toward a knife that was 14 inches long end-to-end with an 8-inch blade immediately after Rose informed him that he was under arrest, as shown by bodycam footage.

A physical struggle between de Arcos, Rose and his partner began after de Arcos grabbed the knife.

Rose yelled for de Arcos to drop the knife twice, but he did not and continued to struggle with officers.

Officers were able to disengage from the physical fight and pushed de Arcos away from them into the kitchen.

Bodycam footage showed de Arcos turned back toward the officers with the knife raised in his right hand.

It was at that point when Rose fired and struck de Arcos.

Officers responded to the apartment in response to a 911 call from the father of the woman who lived with de Arcos at that address.

She had texted him that de Arcos was threatening her.

Neal said that Rose’s actions were justified under Idaho law as an act of self-defense.

“I conclude that Officer Rose was protecting himself and others by reasonable means necessary from an aggravated assault and/or attempted murder, and thus Idaho law prohibits placing the officer in ‘legal jeopardy of any kind whatsoever.’”

Police secured the area after the shooting, and the East Idaho Critical Incident Task Force arrived to conduct an external investigation into the shooting.

For this incident, the Rexburg Police Department led the investigation with assistance from other regional law enforcement agencies. The investigation was reviewed by the Bonneville County Prosecutor’s Office to determine if the police actions were justified under the law.