2 people dead, a third hospitalized after Hartford robbery, standoff situation in Sioux Falls
Two people are dead, and a third is in critical, but stable condition following a robbery Saturday night near Hartford, and a related standoff Sunday morning in Sioux Falls, according to law enforcement officials.
The Sioux Falls Police Department and the Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office held a press conference Sunday morning to address the incident.
The press conference happened at 11:30 a.m. at the Law Enforcement Center, several hours after the standoff. Sioux Falls Police Chief Jon Thum and Cpt. Josh Phillips, with the Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office, both spoke about how events unfolded.
The call came in at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday to the area of 261st Street and 464th Avenue in Hartford, Phillips said. It was at a business where an "altercation" ensued after an argument, he said.
Two people were shot before the suspect fled the scene. When law enforcement arrived, they performed life-saving measures and rendered aid to both victims but one, a 60-year-old man from Hartford, was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
The second victim, a 45-year-old Colton man, is in stable, but critical condition as of Sunday morning, Phillips said.
The man from Colton was able to identify a suspect to law enforcement, 57-year-old Glenn Scott Nisich, from Sioux Falls, Phillips said.
Search warrant turned stand-off in Sioux Falls
Members of the Sioux Falls Police Department, Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office along with SWAT arrived at about 4 a.m. Sunday to Nisich's residence in northeastern Sioux Falls to issue a search warrant, based on what information detectives gathered at the scene of the robbery.
In the 1800 block of E. 29th Street N., police made contact via phone with Nisich, who told them he was not interested in a "peaceful resolution," Thum said.
Surveillance footage captured with a police drone showed Nisich was holding a firearm, Thum said.
He was determined to be the only one at the residence.
After 6 a.m., Thum claimed Nisich shot in the direction of law enforcement, the drone and the neighborhood. A specific number of shots wasn't given by officials, but Thum said "it was more than one."
A sniper on scene took a shot that incapacitated Nisich. He was pronounced dead on scene, Thum said.
The South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation will be taking over the investigation per protocol.
Thum and Phillips said they could not go into more details regarding the incident that led to the initial shooting or details about the stand-off. Whether other less-than-lethal methods were used to incapacitate Nisich was not disclosed by Thum.
Nisich was the only suspect in the incident, Thum said.
"We desire peaceful resolutions in these types of situations," Thum said. "That's why we roll out the SWAT team. That's why we roll out the crisis negotiators with the SWAT team, that's why we bring out the elements in that we can, so we can open lines of communication and give people time. But ultimately, we respond to people's actions.
"It's tragic," he continued. "There's a lot of loss of life again in this whole situation."
Third shooting death involving law enforcement in less than a year
The incident on Sunday morning is the third time a person has been killed in incidents involving law enforcement in Sioux Falls in the past year.
An hours-long standoff near 12th Street and Garfield Avenue saw a man shot and killed by police on Oct. 28, 2021. DCI ruled that shooting justified.
The latest was a March 31 incident at the 1900 block of West Sixth Street, where a 41-year-old man was shot and killed by police during a welfare check. The investigation by DCI found that the Sioux Falls police officer was justified in their actions of using lethal force.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Robbery suspect dies in Sioux Falls standoff, police say
