Authorities: Suspect in Idaho shootout fired

Associated Press

SAN DIEGO

A close family friend suspected of abducting a 16-year-old girl after killing her mother and younger brother fired his rifle at FBI agents before they killed him in the Idaho wilderness, authorities said Monday.

Hannah Anderson didn’t know her mother and brother were dead until she was rescued from 40-year-old James Lee DiMaggio, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said.

“I can’t make it any clearer: She was a victim in this case. She was not a willing participant,” Gore said at a news conference with Hannah’s father, Brett Anderson.

During a shootout with the FBI, DiMaggio fired at least once and perhaps twice, the sheriff said.

Hannah Anderson reunited with family in San Diego to begin what her father said would be a slow recovery. He thanked the horseback riders who reported seeing the pair near an alpine lake, saying the search might have taken much longer without them.

“She has been through a tremendous, horrific ordeal,” said Brett Anderson, who declined to answer questions and pleaded for privacy.

Christopher Saincome, Hannah’s grandfather, said his son-in-law wanted to take Hannah with him to Tennessee, where he recently moved. Saincome told him that she should stay in the San Diego area, where she was raised and has a large circle of friends.

Gore declined to address how Hannah’s mother and brother died, describe Hannah’s captivity or say whether she tried to escape.

The sheriff also refused to discuss the rescue or how many times DiMaggio was shot, other than to say the suspect is believed to have fired first and that Hannah was nearby.

Gore said the crime was “not spur of the moment” but would not elaborate.