Police have arrested two suspects involved in robbing the business at 310 E. Fairmont Boulevard. Additionally, police have requested a warrant for the arrest of a bystander who fired shots at the fleeing suspects.
On June 22nd around 10:05 p.m., police responded to 310 E. Fairmont Boulevard for a report of an armed robbery. On arrival, police made contact with several witnesses. Police were informed that two unknown male subjects entered the store and one of the men pointed a handgun at the clerk before demanding money from the register. The two suspects fled the store, leaving with an undisclosed amount of cash. As the men were fleeing out of the store, the bystander fired several shots at the suspects from a handgun. The bystander is identified as 22-year-old Austin Hier of Rapid City. A Police K9 Unit was brought in to track the suspects. The suspects were not located, but a plastic airsoft gun was recovered in the track.
The two suspects in the robbery are identified as 18-year-old Yuriah Anderson and 20-year-old Jamaul Shangreaux, both of Rapid City. Shangreaux has been identified as the suspect who brandished the airsoft gun. Anderson and Shangreaux remain in custody at the Pennington County Jail.
Police have requested a warrant be issued for the arrest of Hier for the offence of Reckless Discharge of a Firearm. At the time of this release, the warrant remains active. Factors that went into the decision to request the warrant include the following considerations:
- Mr. Hier did not witness the fleeing suspects brandish a firearm
- He did not see exactly what happened inside the store
- He was never threatened by the suspects as they fled the scene
“The safe operation of a firearm starts with the responsibility of the person carrying it,” says Captain James Johns of the RCPD’s Criminal Investigation Division. “If you point a weapon at somebody and fire it, you need to be able to clearly illustrate why that person presented a threat to you or somebody else. In this case, firing at the suspects was unwarranted. If you witness suspicious activity, contact police immediately.”