PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - The South Dakota Attorney General’s Office says a Lake County sheriff’s deputy was justified in shooting and wounding an armed Madison man.
Benjamin Hernandez, 34, refused to put down his loaded shotgun after being ordered to do so by police and a sheriff’s deputy, authorities said.
The incident happened Sept. 30 when police and deputies responded to a report of a suicidal man armed with a shotgun in a vehicle at a convenience store in Madison.
The man, later identified as Hernandez, made numerous threats to kill himself and shoot officers, the attorney general said.
At one point, Hernandez pointed his shotgun toward officers with his finger on the trigger, according to the summary.
An unidentified Lake County sheriff’s deputy fired a single round that struck Hernandez in the chest. Hernandez dropped his gun out of the window and was given first aid by officers, the Argus Leader reported.
Hernandez was flown to Sanford Hospital in Sioux Falls with non-life-threatening injuries.
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