A Sioux Falls man is dead after being shot by a SWAT team officer Monday evening during a standoff.
At about 5 p.m. Monday, law enforcement responded to a call about a suicidal subject. The responding officers called in the SWAT team. Chief Doug Barthel says a 22-year-old man inside a house fired his gun at least twice, and law enforcement officers tried to negotiate with him.
"After making contact a few times, the subject then came out of the residence, pointed a long rifle at the officers who were on the scene, and, as soon as that happened, one of our SWAT officers shot him at least a couple of times," Barthel says.
The South Dakota Division of criminal investigation is looking into the shooting, which often happens when an officer fires a gun and shoots someone.
"I don't have all the details. We're in the initial stages, but, from the information that I know, we know that he already had fired at least one round and came out of the residence and pointed a long gun directly at our officers," Barthel says. "I mean, when you get into a situation like this, you don't want to necessarily wait until one of the officers gets shot first before you go to that point."
Barthel says no one else was hurt in the situation. He says, at this time, he believes the officer was justified in shooting the man aiming a gun at law enforcement.
Authorities aren't releasing the name of the man who died until his family is notified.