Rapid City SD – A 30-year-old man was shot and killed by Rapid City police officers late Thursday night after a domestic violence call in the 4000 block of Clover Street, according to the Rapid City Police Department.
Officers were called to the residence shortly before 10 p.m. on Oct. 29 after a report that a man had a gun and was threatening to shoot the people inside, according to a statement the department posted to Facebook.
What police say happened
Speaking at the scene Thursday night, Police Chief Don Hedrick said that as officers were on their way, the man left the home through the back door and went into a wooded area. Officers then worked to get the people still inside to a safe place.
While they were doing that, Hedrick said, officers confronted the man in the backyard. He still had a scoped rifle and leveled it at officers, which Hedrick said led to a deadly use of force. Officers fired, and the man was pronounced dead. No officers were hurt.
The department’s written statement said officers gave the man emergency first aid before he was declared dead at the scene.
Assistant Chief Scott Sitts described the man as a 30-year-old white male. Sitts said officers gave him several commands to drop the rifle and he refused, instead threatening to kill every officer on the scene. He then raised the rifle in what Sitts described as an apparent attempt to kill the officers, and the officers defended themselves.
What the written statement left out
The department’s Facebook statement, posted early Friday, said the man came out of the residence with a loaded rifle and pointed it at officers. The remarks at the scene included details the written statement left out: that he left through the back door into a wooded area, that the confrontation happened in the backyard while officers were moving people inside to safety, that the rifle was scoped, and that he verbally threatened to kill every officer there.
The investigation
Under department policy, the investigation has been turned over to the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation. The department said further updates will come from DCI. In past Rapid City officer-involved shootings, the Attorney General’s office has released a shooting summary once DCI’s review is complete.
What we don’t know yet
- The man’s name
- How many officers fired, and how many rounds
- Whether the officers involved have been placed on administrative leave
- Whether body cameras were recording, and whether any footage will be released
- Whether anyone inside the home was hurt, and the man’s relationship to the people there
- Whether police had been called to the address before
- When DCI expects to finish its review
Sourcing: Rapid City Police Department statement posted to Facebook, Oct. 29–30, 2026; remarks by Police Chief Don Hedrick and Assistant Chief Scott Sitts at the scene, Oct. 29, 2026; past South Dakota Attorney General releases on DCI officer-involved shooting reviews.
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