PIERRE, S.D. — South Dakota Attorney General Mark Vargo and the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) Friday released a summary of the July 26, 2022, Rapid City Police Department officer involved shooting. The report found that Marvin Moran Jr. had discharged a firearm in the direction of a police officer before two officers fired and that the officers were justified in using lethal force.
Witness interviews, examination of evidence by the South Dakota Forensic Laboratory and surveillance camera video as well as video and audio recordings from the officers’ body worn cameras corroborated the findings of DCI investigators and the officers’ accounts that they faced clear and present danger and that there was danger to the public.
“The Rapid City Police Department officers faced a fluid, tense and undeniably dangerous situation,” said Attorney General Mark Vargo. “They responded to a service call and encountered an armed man pointing and discharging a firearm at law enforcement. Further, our investigation reveals that the armed man had fired his weapon at others before police arrived. There was a clear danger to the public. There was clear danger to the officers. This was a justified use of lethal force by the officers.”
The Attorney General and the Division of Criminal Investigation would like to thank the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, the Meade County Sheriff’s Office, the Rapid City Police Department and the South Dakota Forensic Laboratory for their assistance and cooperation during the investigation.
