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# Fact brief: Are officer-involved shootings in South Dakota increasing?
- URL: https://www.sdnewswatch.org/fact-brief-officer-involved-shootings-south-dakota-gigafact/
- Published: 2025-07-10T11:41:57.000Z
- Updated: 2025-07-10T11:41:57.000Z
- Description: A fact brief that refutes or confirms a claim with supporting information and additional evidence and context.
- Author: Michael Klinski
- Tags: Fact briefs

## Yes.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cb/ab/cbabab5e-2dc6-462c-94a0-b72956c0d224/content/images/2025/01/WhiteFACT-BRIEF--500-x-200-px--2-1-1.png)

South Dakota law enforcement officers have fired their weapons more times in the past five years than any five-year stretch in the past 25 years.

From 2021 to July 9, there have been 32 officer involved shootings. In the previous five-year span (2016-2020), there were 21\. In 2022, there were 13, and there have been five in 2025 as of July 7, when a 24-year-old man was shot by Sioux Falls Police multiple times after the man fired a handgun at three officers, according to the Division of Criminal Investigations.

The data does not include shootings on tribal land. 

The Washington Post reported that 1,175 people were killed by law enforcement in 2024 – a record. That number has been steadily rising since 2016, when 959 were killed.

More people with access to guns and the increase in mental health calls and violent crime are cited as factors.

**This fact brief responds to conversations such as* [**this one*](https://www.facebook.com/keloland/posts/pfbid02hfW7hC7h93VK2rs1jgmeqBYLKDuEdEhg3kWC2FPqKTg7BJ5JzR7kjGtaxaAwrE1l)**.*

### Sources

South Dakota Attorney General’s Office, [Officer involved shootings](https://atg.sd.gov/OurOffice/Media/Publications/officerinvolvedshootings.aspx?ref=sdnewswatch.org#gsc.tab=0)

Washington Post, [Fatal force database](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/police-shootings-database/?ref=sdnewswatch.org)

The Argus Leader, [DCI investigating July 7 officer-involved shooting in Sioux Falls](https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/crime/2025/07/08/dci-investigating-july-7-officer-involved-shooting-in-sioux-falls/84505662007/?ref=sdnewswatch.org)

Dakota News Now, [Police chief, sheriff say violent crime spike has many reasons](https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/2022/08/11/police-chief-sheriff-say-violent-crime-spike-has-many-reasons/?ref=sdnewswatch.org)

Social Science of Medicine, [Social and policy characteristics associated with injurious shootings by police in US counties](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953624009146?via%3Dihub&ref=sdnewswatch.org)

South Dakota Attorney General’s Office, [Statement on officer-involved shootings](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nOof4SSwL0gxkIlc9RG%5F5ahXDrVkuJmX/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=sdnewswatch.org)

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*This story was produced by *South Dakota News Watch*, an independent, nonprofit organization. Read more stories and donate at* [*sdnewswatch.org*](http://sdnewswatch.org/?ref=sdnewswatch.org) *and* [*sign up for an email*](https://www.sdnewswatch.org/email/) *to get stories when they're published. *Contact Michael Klinski* at* [*michael.klinski@sdnewswatch.org*](mailto: Michael.Klinski@sdnewswatch.org)*.*