Armed bystander distracted gunman in fatal Idaho In-N-Out shooting

The shooter was identified as Chad Williams, 24. He fatally shot himself, authorities said at a news conference.

TWIN FALLS, Idaho — An armed bystander may have saved lives by distracting a gunman who had opened fire at an In-N-Out Burger on Saturday, according to a witness.

Lane Koehn, 34, was at a stoplight just outside the fast-food restaurant when he saw a person with an AR-style rifle emerge from the drive-thru. Bullets struck a car in front of him, and Koehn watched the shooter move through the drive-thru toward his own car, he told NBC News.

“I could tell he was trying to figure out where to go, and somebody in the drive-thru line with a handgun was shooting at him,” Koehn said.

He described the shooter as “panicked,” looking around and moving “kind of erratically.” Koehn believes the armed bystander kept the gunman from shooting at more people.

“The shooter was solely focused on him, and [it] allowed us to get out,” Koehn said. “I mean, the car directly ahead of me was getting shot — it gave them time to leave.”