Fatal shooting: Three men had 'hands on the gun'

KELLOGG, Idaho — A Whitefish man who was shot and killed by an Idaho State Police trooper June 12 had been questioned by law enforcement officers for 45 minutes before grabbing a handgun and starting a struggle that ended with the shooting.

Two law officers and Alexander L. Mandarino, 26, all had “hands on the gun” struggling to gain control of the weapon before Trooper Todd McDevitt took a step back and shot Mandarino in the chest one time, according to Lt. Stu Miller with the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office.

McDevitt and Shoshone County Deputy Adam Durflinger responded after a highway worker requested a check on the occupant of an orange Scion parked at an Interstate 90 turnout just west of Lookout Pass.

“He [Mandarino] had been there apparently for some time, and his car was kind of parked almost frontwards into a ditch and he was kind of laid back in his seat,” Miller said. “For some time he was in that position, so they were concerned, and that’s why they called the sheriff’s office.”

The investigation found Mandarino gave contradictory answers to the law officers about why he was driving his roommate’s car with license plates for a vehicle registered to Mandarino, Miller said Wednesday.

Miller said investigators have no idea why Mandarino was driving his roommate’s Scion or why he changed the plates on the vehicle.

Mandarino was outside the vehicle and at some point got in the passenger side of the car.

Miller said while he was seated, Mandarino produced a handgun from somewhere in the vehicle and Durflinger began a struggle to take the weapon.

While investigators are still waiting to get the full ballistics and autopsy reports, Miller said Mandarino died of a single gunshot wound to the chest. Additionally, a toxicology screening found Mandarino tested positive for THC — the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

Durflinger and McDevitt initially were put on paid administrative leave, but both have returned to full duty.

Miller said the detectives investigating the shooting are expecting to wrap up the investigation soon, but there are still some lingering questions about Mandarino.

“They’re trying to piece together what was [Mandarino’s] frame of mind,” Miller said. “[They] don’t know why he went for the gun.”

Born in Kalispell, Mandarino graduated from Whitefish High School in 2005 and studied filmmaking at the Los Angeles Film School. He attended Fresh Life Church and had a passion for writing, film, reading, food and animals, according to his obituary.

He is survived by his parents, Laura Blankenship and Monte and Dana Mandarino; brother, Grant Mandarino; and sisters, Christy Blankenship, Sarah Sibbert and Katie Blankenship.

Bobby Atkinson of the Shoshone News Press contributed to this story.