Federal officers used pepper spray and shot and killed a young man with a criminal history moments after he livestreamed himself brushing his teeth in the basement of a tribal housing unit on the Yankton Sioux Reservation.
Zander Zephier, 23, died Nov. 27 just north of this southeast South Dakota town, about 40 minutes after the U.S. Marshals Service arrived to arrest him on an outstanding warrant.
What is not clear from the live video feed and additional security footage outside his family’s house is why deputy marshals used force to apprehend Zephier, especially when his wheelchair-bound, 90-year-old great-grandmother was still inside.
Federal officials haven’t responded to News Watch inquiries about the timing of the operation and what circumstances led to Zephier being shot and killed.
A retired chief inspector with the U.S. Marshals Service interviewed by News Watch raised questions about the use of pepper spray and the decision to enter the house without more attempts at negotiation, possibly involving tribal police.
“Tactically, it gives the impression of deputy marshals operating in the wild, wild West,” said Jason Wojdylo, who worked for the agency for nearly 25 years and now lives in Tampa, Florida.
“If the fugitive is holed up in the house, our procedures were always to back out, set up a perimeter and contain the fugitive in the residence, not just lob munitions into the house.”
The U.S. Marshals Service, an enforcement arm of the federal judiciary, is primarily responsible for locating and arresting federal suspects and carrying out fugitive operations.
Based on text messages from neighbors and interviews with family members, the law enforcement team arrived at 8:37 a.m. the day before Thanksgiving and began lobbing gas grenades into the basement at 9:11 a.m.
Shots were fired five minutes later, after at least one deputy marshal entered the house. At 9:46 a.m., Zephier was pronounced dead at Wagner Community Memorial Hospital.
Zephier’s great-grandmother was on the main floor of the residence when the gas grenades were tossed into the basement.
You can read the full article at South Dakota News Watch.