Clearwater County Sheriff Chris Goetz said some of the claims made by the family of a man who died in an officer-involved shooting in January are false.

In a written statement released Thursday evening, Goetz said that the family of Michael J. Trappett filed a tort claim against Clearwater County. Trappett was killed during a confrontation with two deputies Jan. 31 and the incident is currently being reviewed by the Latah County Prosecutor’s Office.

Some of the information in the tort claim, Goetz said, is incorrect, including the names of the deputies involved and a description of the confrontation.

“Trappett has a history of threatening and aggressive behavior towards law enforcement in Clearwater County and at least one other County in Idaho,” Goetz said in his statement. “Trappett was aggressive towards deputies that night. He would not follow the commands of the deputies to drop the knife that was in his hand. Trappett started walking away from deputies and then turned around, raised the knife, and attempt(ed) to attack the deputies.”

According to an earlier news release, Trappett, 48, was killed during a confrontation with deputies outside his parents’ home on Harmony Heights Loop Road in Orofino. The deputies had been dispatched to the residence about 2:24 a.m. Jan. 31 for a report of an aggressive intoxicated man armed with a knife.

When the deputies arrived, they were not able initially to locate the man, but later encountered him outside the residence. The man, later identified as Trappett, was armed with a knife and became aggressive toward the deputies with the knife, the news release said. Trappett would not respond to verbal commands and deadly force was used, the sheriff’s office reported.

Both deputies had body cameras recording the incident and the footage, along with audio recordings from the sheriff’s dispatch office, were turned over to the Lewiston Police Department, which investigated the incident.

In February, Trappett’s family held a televised news conference in which they claimed the sheriff’s office lied about the incident and that Trappett was not aggressive or dangerous. They said Trappett had suffered from mental health problems.

Goetz said the Trappett family refused to provide any information or statements to the Lewiston Police Department during the investigation. He added that he looks forward to the completion of the review by the Latah County prosecutor “so that the reports related to this case can be shared publicly.”

Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said he has not yet completed his review of the incident and could make no further comment on it at this time.

Hedberg may be contacted at khedberg@lmtribune.com.