A former South Dakota mayor has been charged with three counts of murder in a shooting.
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley In a press release Police announced Tuesday that a 64-year-old Centerville man has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in Monday’s homicide.
Jay Ostrem is being held in Minnehaha County on $1 million cash-only bail, according to the release.
Mr Jackley said police had secured the scene and there was “no further threat to the public”.
Jackley said the names of the three victims have not been released because their families are still being notified.
Ostrem served as mayor from May 2009 until he resigned in November 2011. He was accused of sexual assault in a federal lawsuit. Ostrem was a former law enforcement officer, but his certification expired in 2016. Dakota News Now reports.
CBS News reported. The victims were brothers, ages 26 and 21, and a man, age 35. The indictment did not disclose the relationship of the third victim to the two brothers.
The incident was reported on Monday at around 10pm.
CBS News reported that a man called police to report that his brother had been shot by “a guy across the street.” The caller said he had also been shot during the call, then stopped speaking.
Ostrem was arrested after placing an AR-style rifle on the ground nearby and had a handgun in his pocket, the outlet reported.
Dakota News Now reported that a Game, Fish and Parks conservation officer reported smelling alcohol coming from Ostrem.
Authorities found the three victims in a home across the street from Ostrem.
Police spoke with the woman’s family, who said Ostrem was sexually assaulted by a neighbor while she was asleep in her home on May 23. She told Ostrem about it on Monday, and he became enraged and left the home.
Jackley said the case is being investigated by the South Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Centerville is located approximately 40 miles south of Sioux Falls. The population is 918, according to the 2020 census.
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