SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — An officer-involved shooting took place Tuesday afternoon in Sioux Falls.
It occurred shortly before 1:30 p.m. in the parking lot of a gas station.
Police Chief Jon Thum says it happened after an officer approached a car at a convenience store gas pump to ask about a substituted license plate. He said when the officer tried to get the driver to step out of the car, a struggle happened during which the car was put into reverse and accelerated rapidly, trapping the officer behind the open driver’s-side door and crashing into the gas pumps.
Thum says as the car backed up, the officer, fearing for his safety, fired. Both the driver and front seat passenger were stuck with bullets. Thum says immediate medical aid was given and the two were hospitalized.
Police say the driver, a 22-year-old woman from Sioux Falls, remains hospitalized and her condition is unknown at this time. Her name will be released once she’s taken into police custody.
The front seat passenger, 48-year-old Thomas Earl Two Bulls was also shot during the struggle. He was treated at a local hospital for minor injuries then placed under arrest after he was released. Two Bulls had multiple warrants.
A third passenger, 38-year-old Roseanne Lee Cooke was also placed under arrest due to outstanding warrants.
The officer involved has been placed on administrative leave and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has taken over the investigation.
This is the 7th officer involved shooting in 2022 and the 9th since October of last year, all of which were deemed justified by the DCI.
