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The Gooding County Prosecutor’s Office won’t pursue criminal charges against the Boise officer who fatally shot 22-year-old Payton Wasson in the head in downtown Boise last year while he was running away from police.

Boise Police Officer Chance Feldner, who joined the department in 2014, was cleared of any wrongdoing, according to a letter from Gooding County Prosecutor Trevor Misseldine. Body-camera footage released by Boise police showed Wasson was running away when he was fatally shot.

“I have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal charge against any of the law enforcement officers involved in this incident for the shooting death of Payton Wasson,” Misseldine said in the letter.

Boise police said they were investigating Wasson, along with another man, on suspicion of gang activity and drug dealing at the time of the shooting in June 2023. Misseldine in his letter said Wasson fled from police, drew a gun from his waistband and refused commands to stop while running toward a crowded area.

Wasson’s death sparked several protests in the city and calls from police accountability advocates for transparency surrounding the details of the shooting.

Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar in a news release said situations like this “rapidly unfold” and that officers are tasked with making difficult decisions in a matter of seconds.

“Our officers do not have the option of not intervening when such a person, armed and desperate to avoid apprehension, is headed toward a crowd of people,” Winegar said. “It is a tragic circumstance whenever officers must deploy deadly force, particularly when someone loses their life, and those involved, including the officers, will be impacted forever.”