A Rapid City police officer shot a woman early Tuesday morning after she allegedly tried to hit him with her car following a pursuit.
The woman, whose name has not been released, received first aid at the scene before being taken by ambulance to the hospital with multiple non-life-threatening wounds.
Rapid City Police Chief Don Hedrick says “Any time we have a shooting like this in our community it’s a tragedy. It’s not the direction we want things to go.”
According to Chief Hedrick, the incident began about 4 a.m. when an officer tried to make a traffic stop at an intersection for an equipment violation.
The driver continued at a low speed, but began trying to elude the officer after a male passenger jumped out of her car.
The officer said that as the chase began, the woman threw something out of her window. He attempted a maneuver to stop the woman, but failed and the pursuit continued until he was finally able to block her car.
Chief Hedrick says the woman then began driving toward the officer, who fired multiple shots at her and her car.
The officer and a second who arrived at the scene shortly after the shooting have been placed on administrative leave, routine protocol in an officer-involved shooting.
Hedrick also says police are still looking for the man who jumped out of the car as the chase began and for whatever the woman threw out the window.
The South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation is in charge of the shooting investigation, assisted by the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office