Rapid City police say the fatal shooting about 11:00 Saturday night has been ruled a homicide with suspects being investigated. The victim’s name has not been released, only that he was a man in his 20s.
Assistant Police Chief Scott Stitts says that the victim and suspects were acquainted and that the combined Rapid City Police-Pennington County Sheriff’s Office Special Response Team served search warrants at two homes, but that no information was being released on the results.
Police Chief Don Hedrick says officers found the victim in an apartment and had a medical unit transport him to a hospital, where he later died. The chief also says the out-of-state owners of the apartment complex where the shooting occurred were made aware of the situation.
The incident occurred in the Knollwood Drive area, where the volume of crime led the police department to open a substation last year and conduct 24/7 patrol. Chief Hedrick said in a Facebook video that “enough is enough. We are all tired of it. The good people living up here are tired of it. It’s time to work together.”
Assistant Chief Stitts echoes his boss, saying “We have some great, fantastic people living up here who are scared, scared to live their lives, scared to go outside, and we should not tolerate that as a community.”
Stitts says law enforcement is “going to solve this, but we need the help of the community to help us solve this issue.”