PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Attorney General Marty Jackley says three Lawrence County sheriff's deputies involved in an exchange of gunfire with a suspect who later died were justified in firing their weapons.

Jackley's report also says 31-year-old Rory Gunderman, of Sundance, Wyoming, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, not from a bullet fired by one of the officers.

The probe by the state Division of Criminal Investigation clears Detective Joe Leveque, Sgt. Pat Johnson and Deputy Matt McCroden. They had been put on administrative leave after the Sept. 16 incident, which is normal procedure.

The report says the shootout happened after deputies chased Gunderman, who had stolen a vehicle at gunpoint in Wyoming's Weston County the previous day. The chase began in vehicles and ended on foot in a wooded area near Lead.

 

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