SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley says law enforcement justifiably used deadly force in two shootings with the same suspect on April 1.
Twenty-five-year-old Samir Albaidhani faces a litany of charges, including six counts of attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer. He is in custody at the Minnehaha County Jail, and photos released Friday by South Dakota’s Division of Criminal Investigation offer the public glimpses into tense situations involving the suspect.
“The information that law enforcement had received was that he was likely using methamphetamine, had a firearm in his waistband and that he had made comments that he wasn’t going back to jail alive,” South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said Friday.
Investigators say officers with the Sioux Falls Police Department on April 1 successfully found Albaidhani, a parole absconder who was also wanted on different outstanding warrants. Per a DCI summary of what took place, two officers used their car to box in the stolen car Albaidhani was driving, and a chase ensued. Albaidhani allegedly fired two shots at the officers, striking one of them; a photo released Friday shows the suspect turning his torso and stretching out his right arm.
The DCI report says the Sioux Falls Police officer who was hit returned fire toward Albaidhani, with the other officer also opening fire.
“My findings and the DCI findings are both of those officers were justified in firing their duty weapons,” Jackley said. “They had had use of force used against them. One of the officers was shot in his left arm, and they had every right to return fire at that point and acted appropriately.”
Investigators say Albaidhani headed south in a stolen SUV soon after the exchange of gunfire in Sioux Falls.
“Law enforcement further learned and identified Albaidhani and that stolen vehicle driving south on I-29,” Jackley said. “A pursuit entailed, traveling at speeds of over 100 miles per hour. Eventually, it reached a point where his vehicle went off the road right at Exit 42 in Union County.”
Per a DCI summary of events in Union County, Albaidhani fired a gun toward South Dakota Highway Patrol troopers as well as officers with the Beresford Police Department. One trooper fired at Albaidhani, and another trooper hit the suspect with a Highway Patrol car. Pictures released Friday clearly show Albaidhani with a gun in his hand.
“The second finding that I make as attorney general with the investigative report by the DCI that we will make public is that the trooper that used his vehicle for impact was justified in those actions,” Jackley said. “It was appropriate police tactics. It was done appropriately. The second trooper that fired his weapon after having being fired at and having witnessed three more shots being fired at his fellow officers was justified in taking those actions, of firing his duty weapon.”
For Jackley, the events of April 1 highlight what officers face.
“Law enforcement’s here to serve our communities,” he said. “They do it well, but when doing so it’s a dangerous job, and on this incident several officers put their life in danger.
