Police say the dispute started as a driver tried to move through packed traffic.
POST FALLS, Idaho — The fatal shooting of Bradley Allen Rex began in a crowd outside Stateline Speedway, where police say a DoorDash driver tried to steer through festival traffic before a dispute turned deadly.
The May 9 shooting drew a large law enforcement response because it happened near the Night Lights Sky Lantern Festival, a public event that brought thousands of people to the speedway area. The setting gave investigators many witnesses but also a chaotic scene to sort through. Edsel Robert Johnson, 32, is charged with first-degree murder, reckless driving and battery. Police say he was delivering baby formula when he encountered slow traffic and pedestrians on North Beck Road.
By the time shots were reported at about 7:10 p.m., deputies from the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office and officers from the Post Falls Police Department were already in the area. They had been assigned near the speedway because of the large crowd. Sheriff’s officials said the first reports sent officers to North Beck Road in unincorporated Kootenai County near Post Falls. Deputies found Rex dead at the scene. They detained Johnson as he was leaving in a vehicle. Lt. Mark Ellis said the information released at first was preliminary and that investigators were still processing the road and surrounding area.
The crowd is central to the case because police say Johnson was trying to drive through people and vehicles near the festival. Witnesses told investigators they saw a silver van going the wrong way on Beck Road. They said the driver honked while trying to move through the area. Most people and vehicles moved aside, according to accounts summarized in court documents. Rex did not, and investigators say the confrontation focused on the van. Rex’s wife told deputies that her husband was trying to protect other bystanders from the vehicle. That account places Rex not as a passerby, but as someone reacting to what he saw as danger in the roadway.
Johnson gave police a different focus after the shooting. Investigators say he called 911 and told dispatchers he had shot someone. Court records say Johnson claimed the man he shot had been hitting his van. He also said he did not want to shoot him but had “stuff to do.” Detectives later interviewed Johnson, who said he was working as a DoorDash driver and delivering baby formula. According to court records, Johnson said he was impatient and reacted poorly when Rex came up to the vehicle and grabbed the door. Police said Johnson admitted firing the shot that killed Rex.
The public event complicated the aftermath. North Beck Road was closed while investigators examined the scene and collected evidence. Deputies asked people to avoid the area. Officials said there was no ongoing public threat after Johnson was detained, but the investigation remained active. The road, the speedway and the festival traffic all became part of a crime scene. Investigators had to separate people who saw the van, people who heard the shot, people who knew Rex and people who interacted with Johnson. They also had to account for the position of vehicles and pedestrians at the time of the shooting.
Stateline Speedway sits near Post Falls in Kootenai County, close to the Idaho-Washington state line. On a normal night, the area functions as a local race and event venue. On May 9, it became a gathering place for a lantern festival, creating slow traffic along nearby roads. Police said the dispute involved people leaving the event and the suspect attempting to drive through the crowded area. Some witnesses reported that attendees were still making their way into the festival, which also slowed traffic. That timing question may matter in court because it helps frame how crowded the road was and how the encounter started.
The charges against Johnson reflect both the shooting and the driving that came before it. First-degree murder is the most serious count. Reckless driving addresses the movement of the van through the crowd. Battery, added later in amended court filings, accuses Johnson of willfully and unlawfully using force or violence against Rex. Prosecutors have said the murder count carries possible penalties of life in prison or death, but they had not announced a decision on whether to seek the death penalty. Johnson is presumed innocent unless convicted.
At Johnson’s first appearance, Judge James Combo set bail at $2 million. He also barred Johnson from contacting Rex’s family. The judge said the alleged shooting presented a significant risk to public safety. Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney Stan Mortensen said Idaho law would not justify the conduct alleged in court records. Mortensen also told the court that prosecutors would review the case before making any decision on a death penalty filing. The court process then moved into preliminary hearings, where prosecutors were expected to present enough evidence to support moving forward.
Several facts remain unresolved in the public record. The exact number of people who saw the full confrontation has not been released. Police have not publicly detailed every piece of physical evidence recovered from the road. The records described so far do not say Rex was armed. They also do not provide a full timeline from the moment Johnson entered the crowded area to the moment he fired. Those gaps do not stop a case from moving forward, but they identify the areas where prosecutors and defense lawyers are likely to focus as the evidence is tested in court.
The shooting turned a festival night into a public homicide investigation, with families, attendees and police pulled into the same narrow stretch of road. Rex’s wife became a key witness. Johnson’s own call to dispatch became part of the case. The festival crowd gave investigators a large pool of accounts, but also a complicated scene. The case now stands in Kootenai County court, where the next milestone is continued review of evidence and the formal path toward trial or another resolution.
Author note: Last updated June 4, 2026.