SIOUX FALLS — Police in Sioux Falls confirmed that two people were shot by a police officer during a Tuesday, Dec. 20, incident at a gas station on the city’s north side.
During a regular news briefing on Wednesday, Dec. 21, Sioux Falls Police Chief Jon Thum acknowledged that two people had been shot when an officer was pinned against a gas pump on Tuesday. A news release issued by the department shortly after the shooting said that one subject was struck by gunfire , though two had been transported for injuries.
The second individual, identified as 48-year-old Thomas Two Bulls, was released from a Sioux Falls hospital shortly after the shooting and arrested on multiple warrants, Thum confirmed. The 22-year-old female driver who was also shot has not yet been identified, and remains in a hospital. Her condition was not released.
The Tuesday incident began after an officer with the Sioux Falls Police Department initiated a traffic stop near the intersection of North Minnesota Avenue and Russell Street after identifying a possible plate substitution violation.
The 22-year-old driver pulled into a gas station on the intersection’s northwest corner and came to a stop at a gas pump. Public Information Officer Sam Clemens said that the officer felt the driver was being deceptive when identifying herself, and refused to exit the vehicle.
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As the officer attempted to remove the driver from the vehicle, Clemens said the vehicle was somehow kicked into reverse and accelerated at a high rate of speed, pinning the officer between the door and a gas pump. The officer then fired an unspecified number of shots into the vehicle, striking the driver and Two Bulls. A second police vehicle was able to prevent the vehicle from leaving the scene.
After transporting Two Bulls and the driver to a hospital, authorities were able to confirm that the driver had multiple warrants for her arrest. Clemens declined to comment on what her warrants were, as she has not yet been arrested. He added the driver won’t be arrested until she’s released from the hospital.
At the scene of the shooting, another passenger, 38-year-old Roseanne Cooke was also arrested on unrelated warrants.
The investigation into the shooting is being handled by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), the same agency which investigated six other officer-involved shootings involving the Sioux Falls Police Department this year.
Thum shared that an officer-involved shooting is never a desire of an officer, and that he trusts the DCI to complete a full and thorough investigation. Typically, DCI reports on officer-involved shootings are released within 30 days.
Since December 2006, all 61 officer-involved shootings in the state have been deemed a justified use of force.
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