SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Charges are pending against a 40-year-old Watertown man following an officer-involved shooting at Yankton High School Thursday night.

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According to a release from the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office, Andrew Jondahl is hospitalized after being injured in the shooting.

The setting for the shooting was a boys wrestling triangular between Yankton, Watertown and Beresford/Alcester-Hudson. A stream of the wrestling matches shows the meet starting at 5 p.m. and ending around 8 p.m.

“There is no further threat to the public,” said Attorney General Marty Jackley and State’s Attorney-Elect Tyler Larsen in the statement. “We ask that the public give law enforcement the time and space they need to do a full investigation.”

This is the fifth officer-involved shooting in South Dakota during 2024. The release notes that there were eight officer-involved shootings in 2023.

DCI is expected to issue a shooting summary within 30 days.

According to court records, Jondahl has only a single criminal conviction to his record, a failure to stop after a crash in 2014. He did not serve any time in jail in that instance.

Jackley spoke with KELOLAND News reporters Julia Lin and Jacob Newton Friday afternoon via Zoom.

“On Thursday evening, at about 7:44 (p.m.), law enforcement received a call for service at the school parking lot at Yankton,” Jackley said. “When law enforcement arrived, ultimately they had an opportunity to begin a discussion with Mr. Jondahl. That discussion escalated, and ultimately there was a use of force by law enforcement.”

Jackley confirmed Jondahl was at the school for the wrestling event.

KELOLAND News spoke with Watertown superintendent Jeff Danielsen, who said that at the time of the shooting, all Watertown staff and athletes were already on their bus and headed home. He confirmed that Jondahl was not a member of faculty or directly involved in the team. Rather, he appeared to be a Watertown community member who had decided to attend the tournament.

Jackley gave limited information on the reason that police were called, stating that a member of the public called about “a dangerous situation at the school.”

“Unfortunately, it escalated after some conversations and discussions. At which point law enforcement acted,” Jackley said.

Jackley described the shooting as “a model implementation” of the use-of-force policy, noting that all shots by officers were fired in a direction away from the school.

While the AG’s office says that charges will come against Jondahl, specific charges have not been filed. “He is presumed innocent,” said Jackley. “At this time, we have made some initial charging decisions, but I want to be respectful. Mr. Jondahl is hospitalized; is going through medical procedures. And we just want to make sure that it’s at the appropriate time.”

Jackley confirmed Jondahl was shot multiple times, but was not able to provide details on his condition, citing Jondahl’s privacy.

“He’s in a serious but not life-threatening situation right now,” Jackley said.

The exact nature of the confrontation was not detailed by Jackley, but he did say that Jondahl had two weapons. He also confirmed that while there were many officers on scene, two of them fired shots.

Speaking to the situation at large, Jackley described it as an unfortunate situation. “Nobody likes to see a situation when there’s an officer’s use of force,” he said. “It’s hard on the officer. It’s certainly hard on the the suspect and family. It’s a difficult situation, especially when it’s at a school. There were a lot of people present at the school.”

Asked about the role substances may have played, Jackley said there are reports of alcohol, but that those reports will not be confirmed until a toxicology report is completed.

UPDATED: 1:30 p.m.

Few details have been shared by authorities, but on Thursday night the AG’s office said one person was injured in the shooting.

The Yankton School District provided the following statement to KCAU 9 News.

At the conclusion of our triangular wrestling meet our local law enforcement notified school officials of a situation reported to them involving a person in the west parking lot of Yankton High School who may have a weapon.  School officials secured our facility and began relocating those people who were in the gym.  Students, staff and those attending the wrestling event were taken to the theater to provide a more secure and safe location. 

There was not a direct threat made to any individual student or staff member.  However it was as a very serious situation that occurred between an individual and law enforcement in our parking lot. There were no students, staff or community members injured.  There was also no direct involvement of any students, staff or community members with the specific incident that occurred in the parking lot.  Our local law enforcement had the area secured and situation isolated to the parking lot.   

As superintendent, I want to personally commend students, staff, community members and those attending from out of town for their cooperation through-out the evening.  Our highest priority was the safety and well-being those present. 

A special and sincere appreciation to our law enforcement and emergency personnel for their professionalism. 

Any information on the incident itself will come from the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office.

The decision was made to continue with school today given the situation last night was an isolated incident with no further safety concerns leading into today. 
Wayne Kindle, Yankton School District Superintendent

Beresford School District Superintendent Dustin Degen told KELOLAND News on the phone Friday morning coaches for Beresford were able to quickly alert parents of the incident via an app and confirmed that all Beresford students were safe. He added that to his knowledge, there is no concern that any Beresford students were involved in the shooting.

He also expressed appreciation for the faculty in Yankton and their handling of the incident.

Yankton County Sheriff Preston Crissey said the state is handling the investigation, but that the sheriff’s office assisted in the aftermath of what he called an ‘isolated incident.’ No arrests have been announced in connection with the shooting.

Crissey said he went into the school with the superintendent following the shooting to speak to those still in the gym and assisted with crowd control as people exited the building.

School went on as normal in Yankton Friday. KELOLAND News has also reached out to the Yankton School District and the South Dakota High School Activities Association.

The SDHSAA told KELOLAND News they have no comment on the shooting.

KELOLAND News has also reached out to the Watertown School District, but has not yet heard back.

KELOLAND News has reviewed doorbell camera footage of the incident sent in by a viewer which has not been cleared for use on air. In the video, which comes from a house behind the school, you can hear shouting followed by multiple gunshots at approximately 8:21 pm, according to the timestamp on the video. After a brief silence, more shouting can be heard before the clip stops recording.