Amanda Ann Christian, a 36-year-old female from Pocatello, Idaho, was killed on Friday afternoon, April 3, 2026, in a violent shooting along Tank Farm Road in northern Power County, near Pocatello. Authorities later identified her as one of two people found dead when emergency responders arrived after a report that three people had been shot. The other person killed in the initial attack was Brandon Lee Madden, 40, also of Pocatello.
The shooting began around 2:38 p.m., when dispatchers
received emergency calls about gunfire in the rural Tank Farm Road area, about a mile north of the Simplot plant. When Power County deputies and first responders reached the scene, they found Christian and Madden deceased, and a third person wounded. That surviving victim was treated at the scene and taken by ambulance to Portneuf Medical Center, where officials later said the person was in stable condition.
As law enforcement worked to secure the area, the situation continued to unfold. Officers searched the surrounding residences, outbuildings, and open land while the suspected gunman remained at large. Multiple agencies responded, including Power County deputies, Bannock County deputies, Pocatello police, Chubbuck police, American Falls police, Idaho State Police, EMS crews, Portneuf Air Rescue, and tactical teams. Drones and armored vehicles were used as officers searched the broad rural area near the Portneuf River.
Investigators later said the suspected gunman was found hiding near the Portneuf River. As officers moved toward him and attempted to communicate and negotiate, additional shots were heard. During that part of the incident, a bystander who was on a boat on the Portneuf River was struck by gunfire. A second person on the boat was not injured. The wounded bystander was given aid, flown to Portneuf Medical Center, and later released from the hospital. Officials said the people on the boat had no connection to the earlier shooting.
Authorities identified the suspected shooter as Richard Todd Forrest, 63, of Pocatello. Investigators said Forrest allegedly shot and killed Christian and Madden at the Tank Farm Road property and wounded two others during the broader incident. After Forrest was located near the river, deputies attempted to negotiate with him, but officials said he brandished a firearm and made a lethal threat toward the tactical team. Law enforcement then opened fire, killing him at the scene. No officers were injured.
Because Forrest died during the confrontation with police, there were no reported arrests, charges, trial proceedings, or conviction in connection with Christian's death. The homicide investigation into the deaths of Christian and Madden remained separate from the investigation into the officer-involved shooting that killed Forrest. The Power County Sheriff's Office, Idaho State Police, and other agencies continued investigating the original shootings, while the Idaho Falls Police Department led the Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Task Force review of the police shooting.
Officials had not publicly released a motive for the attack, and they had not confirmed whether Christian, Madden, the surviving initial victim, and Forrest knew one another. A family fundraiser described Madden and Christian as siblings and said their deaths came in the same heartbreaking moment, but authorities did not release many personal details beyond their identities and hometowns. The case left a wide impact in the Pocatello and Power County area, with local law enforcement describing the incident as highly unusual and urging the public not to spread rumors while investigators worked through the evidence.
