{"id":26139,"date":"2026-08-03T14:18:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T09:18:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=26139"},"modified":"2026-08-03T14:18:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T09:18:36","slug":"idaho-in-n-out-mass-shooting-victim-christopher-claunch-waited-to-eat-at-restaurant-because-of-hype-sister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=26139","title":{"rendered":"Idaho In-N-Out mass shooting victim Christopher Claunch waited to eat at restaurant because of hype: sister"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F08%2F136337750.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>An Idaho man among two people killed in a mass shooting at a recently opened Idaho In-N-Out restaurant  was excited the burger joint had launched a new location but waited to eat there because of the hype, his sister has said as she paid tribute to her \u201cgoofball\u201d sibling.<\/p>\n<p>Christopher Claunch, 59, died from his injuries after being caught up in Saturday\u2019s shooting in Twin Falls, his sister Kimberly Castaneda <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/08\/02\/us\/gunman-acted-alone-in-idaho-in-n-out-attack-authorities-say.html\">told the New York Times.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Claunch, who worked at the Renaissance Ranch Recovery Center in Rupert, Idaho, and had lived in the state for the past 30 years, made a habit of going to the burger joint when he headed back to visit Castaneda, who lives in Rosamond, California.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He was thrilled when the renowned burger chain opened its Twin Falls location, its fourth in Idaho, on July 24.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Christopher Claunch was identified by his sister as one of the people killed in the mass shooting at a Twin Cities, Idaho, In-N-Out restaurant. <span class=\"credit\">Brad West\/Facebook<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Claunch, known affectionately as Toph, told his sister he would delay his visit to the restaurant because of the craze surrounding it.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cYou have no idea how surprised I was when I found out he was there,\u201d she told the New York Times.<\/p>\n<p>Castaneda said her brother was \u201calways being a goofball,\u201d reminiscing on the time together at a Fourth of July gathering.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy silly brother took my headband I was wearing with little tin wheels on it\u2026 and he sat with those things on like it was just no big deal,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Claunch had been sober for two years after struggling with alcoholism, his sister revealed. He also lost his first wife three months after they tied the knot. <\/p>\n<p>Law enforcement has not formally identified any of the victims.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/08\/02\/us-news\/in-n-out-employee-among-the-2-dead-in-idaho-mass-shooting-ceo-reveals\/\">other person killed<\/a> was a restaurant employee. Shooter <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/08\/02\/us-news\/chad-williams-idd-as-idaho-in-n-out-gunman-after-two-killed-7-injured-in-mass-shooting\/\">Chad Williams, 24, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound<\/a> after carrying out his rampage.<\/p>\n<p>Seven people were injured \u2013 including 62-year-old Tesla driver Terry Dudley, who was shot twice in the back when he was charging his car.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Chad Williams, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was identified as the shooter. <span class=\"credit\">X\/commandante_<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThere are very few people in this world like Terry,\u201d his pal James Palmer said in a fundraiser.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is the kind of man who quietly puts others before himself, who works hard, loves deeply, and never hesitates to lend a helping hand. He is tenacious, compassionate, kind hearted, and has a way of making those around him smile, even on their hardest days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Palmer described Dudley, a widower and father of four, as the \u201cbest employee I have ever had\u201d but said \u201chis value goes far beyond his work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is loyal, dependable, selfless, and the kind of person every community is better for having.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Steven Pixley was also shot and he shared a picture of his wound from his hospital bed online.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Twin Falls Fire Department truck and a Twin Falls Police car at the scene of a shooting outside an In-N-Out Burger restaurant. <span class=\"credit\">KMVT via AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cHe was simply riding his motorcycle by the restaurant when he was struck by a bullet, becoming an innocent victim of a senseless act of violence,\u201d his cousin Tracey Evans said.<\/p>\n<p>Witness Lane Koehn, 34, was waiting at a stoplight near the restaurant when he saw a person with an AR-style rifle emerge from the drive-thru. A man with a <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/08\/02\/us-news\/hero-armed-citizen-opened-fire-on-idaho-in-n-out-gunman-during-deadly-shooting\/\">pistol then fired at the shooter.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>He said the shooter fired at least three or four rounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Nayeli Rodriguez, 40, of Burley, was inside waiting for food with her daughters when she heard shots from the kitchen.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>An employee said it was a shooting and told people to get down. Rodriguez said an older man tried to protect her and her daughters, and they were among the last to run outside.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were trying to get as far as we could and some angels let us in their car,\u201d she said. \u201cI left my car there in the parking lot.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In-N-Out CEO Lynsi Snyder <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/08\/02\/us-news\/idaho-in-n-out-worker-was-shot-dead-by-disgusting-human-who-doesnt-value-lives-of-others-or-his-own-chain-owner-lynsi-snyder-says\/\">said <\/a>the worker killed was \u201ctaking care of our most important asset \u2013 our Customers, and her life was taken by a disgusting human who doesn\u2019t value the lives of others or his own.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>With Post wires\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An Idaho man among two people killed in a mass shooting at a recently opened Idaho In-N-Out restaurant was excited the burger joint had launched a new location but waited to eat there because of the hype, his sister has said as she paid tribute to her \u201cgoofball\u201d sibling. Christopher Claunch, 59, died from his&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/136337750.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}