Sunday, August 25, 2013, a Coeur d’Alene police officer was allegedly involved in a shooting in Coeur d’Alene.  The person the officer allegedly shot died.  The Idaho State Police is conducting the investigation into the shooting.

Beyond that, nearly everything that has been in the skewspapers so far has been speculation based on second-hand word-of-mouth exchanges.  (Note to readers:  Cops gossip and speculate, too.  Those who know won’t say, and those who say probably don’t know — at least not the complete story.  In any case, we’re not likely able to differentiate between the two.)

It will take days to weeks for the ISP to complete its investigation, collate its results into a report, and then forward it to the Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney.  After reviewing the results of investigation, the Prosecutor will determine if criminal prosecution is warranted.

Between now and the time the Prosecutor announces his findings and actions, the local skewsmedia will be filling in the gaps with authoritative-sounding speculation and unsubstantiated comments.  By the time the Prosecutor’s report becomes public record and the case is closed (assuming there will be no prosecutions), the skewsmedia will have completely lost any interest in carefully studying it to prepare an accurate and complete news story or series.    Timely speculation trumps untimely accuracy in what passes for news these days.