Idaho Fireman Receives a Slap on the Wrist for Child's Death - After Very Lengthy Investigation

Noelle Aston Shawver

Local news

A Pocatello firefighter who lives in Chubbuck has been charged with misdemeanor injury to a child in the accidental shooting death of 5-year-old Noelle Aston Shawver, of Blackfoot, last July by another 5-year-old.


Rusty Lish will be arraigned in Bannock County Magistrate Court on the charge at 1:30 p.m. today.

    
The little girl was killed after being struck by a bullet discharged from a firearm held by another 5-year-old child on the afternoon of July 30, 2014, at Lish's home. Adults in the home at the time were in another room. The deceased girl's parents, Drew and Stacie (Udy) Shawver, of Blackfoot, were visiting the Lish residence.

   
“It's wrong to have a firearm where a child could get ahold of it,” said Bannock County Prosecutor Steve Herzog. “We've been working on this case for a long time. Everyone knows what happened shouldn't have happened. It's been a really difficult case.”

    
Herzog said the message in this prosecution should be that gun safety is an essential issue when it comes to having children and firearms in a home.