An ex-Marine accused of shooting a prominent Idaho minister outside his church was arrested after he threw objects over the fence of the White House. police said.
The U.S. Secret Service confirmed Kyle Andrew Odom's arrest to NBC News late Tuesday night.
Tim Remington, senior pastor of The Altar Church in Coeur d'Alene, was shot six times and critically wounded in the church's parking lot Sunday. His condition has since been upgraded to fair, and he was described as stable.
Odom, 30, was arrested without incident at 8:27 p.m. ET at the South Fence of the White House, Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Lee White said. He was apprehended while throwing objects, including documents and a computer flash drive, over the fence, White said.
White said the package included a "manifesto" mentioning numerous U.S. House members and senators and Israeli government officials by name. He wouldn't give any further details other than to say it didn't include specific threats.
"It's an interesting read," he said.
Odom emerged as the prime suspect after surveillance video showed a silver Honda Accord driving away from the scene Sunday, its license plate clearly readable. He was initially believed to have headed west toward Spokane, Washington, and then south, where authorities lost his trail, police said Monday night.
But Odom was arrested in the nation's capital — more than 2,000 miles in the opposite direction — after he flew there from Boise, Idaho, White said. It wasn't clear how Odom was able to board a plane with police hunting him.
A few hours before he was arrested, Odom changed the profile picture on his Facebook account to a drawing of a funnel-shaped head with green eyes, resembling pop culture conceptions of interstellar aliens. And news of his arrest came shortly after police confirmed that he had sent a letter to his parents and to several local media outlets.
Coeur d'Alene Police Detective Jared Reneau said that letter was also accompanied by a flash drive containing multiple electronic documents. He said they indicated that the shooting wasn't random and that another church member may have been targeted. That church member was placed under police protection, he said.
NBC station KHQ of Spokane was among the news organizations receiving the package. It reported that it immediately turned the materials over to police.
Remington's oldest son, Jeremiah, told KHQ on Tuesday night that Odom's arrest "feels like a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders." Jeremiah Remington said his father was awake and talking and was expected to make a full recovery.
The Altar Church, a nondenominational evangelical church, said in its first formal statement on the shooting that Remington "is still subject to infection, the potential of loss of feeling or movement in his right arm, and undetected damage to internal organs."
The church asked members and supporters to set aside any "fear, anger, or a desire for vengeance."
"Over the past two weeks our congregation has been studying and praying for revival in our churches and nation," it said. "We have sensed that the nation stands at a crossroads and it is critical for the church in America to fulfill its role as salt and light to a dark and dying world."
Remington, 55, was shot a day after he delivered the invocation at a rally for Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz. No connection has officially been made between the shooting and Remington's attendance at the rally.
