RAPID CITY, S.D. – A Rapid City police officer shot and killed a man who charged at the officer while holding a large, butcher-type knife, authorities said Friday.
Police said the incident happened in a building about 5:30 a.m. Friday after an officer responded to a disturbance call. Rapid City Police Chief Don Hedrick said the initial investigation shows the man was attempting to hurt the officer and called the struggle “active combat.”
“Within seconds, the man was in very close proximity to the officer, to the point where the officer wasn’t sure if he’d been stabbed or not,” he said.
After being charged, Hedrick said the officer fired his weapon at the suspect, who then collapsed. The officer attempted life-saving procedures but the man later died at the hospital.
“This was a very dynamic situation in terms of (how) it unfolded very quickly,” Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom said. “We’ve had the opportunity to watch the body camera footage, and it’s frankly kind of chilling.”
The officer was not injured.
South Dakota’s Division of Criminal Investigation will handle the case with the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office assisting.
