Rapid City police shoot suspect when armed robbery turns into hostage situation

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - A man who was holding a woman at knife point during a robbery was shot by a Rapid City police officer at the Loaf ‘N Jug gas station on Haines Avenue Friday. The suspect, who’s name has not been released, died later at the hospital, according to the state Division of Criminal Investigation.

A release from the South Dakota Attorney General’s office stated that the police were called to the gas station because of an armed robbery that turned into a hostage situation. Police say the man was holding a knife to the store clerk’s throat and the officer fired his service weapon. “At that point, the man went to the ground,” Rapid City Police Chief Don Hedrick said. “A taser was deployed because the individual, the suspect holding the knife, would not let it go.”

The clerk was not injured.

Witnesses told police that when the suspect first grabbed the clerk in the store “A good Samaritan engaged with the suspect,” Hedrick said. “However, the suspect was able to regain control of the clerk and brought her outside, still with the knife, holding it near the clerk, is what I’m being told.”

“We’re being told by some of the witnesses that the suspect made statements about wanting the police to come, made statements leading us to believe it might have been a suicide by cop incident,” Hedrick added.

Pennington County Sheriff Brian Mueller says the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation was called to conduct an independent third-party investigation.

This story will be updated when more information is available.

This is the second officer-involved shooting in Rapid City this year.

Jan. 19, a Rapid City police officer shot and killed a man during a foot chase in the Surfwood Drive and Maple Street area. That shooting is still under investigation by the DCI.

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