CENTERVILLE, S.D. (KELO) – A 64-year-old Centerville man faces charges on three counts of first-degree murder, according to court documents filed Tuesday.
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According to a complaint filed, former Centerville Mayor and City Councilman Jay Edward Ostrem killed three victims on Monday, May 27, 2024 “with premeditated design.” According to lawsuits filed against him, Ostrem previously served as a councilman and mayor of Centerville in 2010.
Ostrem was booked into the Minnehaha County Jail on a $1 million cash-only bond.
According to the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office, the incident occurred around 10 p.m. Monday at a residence in Centerville.
Court documents say that at 9:44 p.m. on Monday, a man described as “frantic” called 911 and reported a shooting, telling the operator that his family member had been shot to death with a shotgun.
The caller told 911 that the shooter was a man from across the street and that he had returned home. While on the phone with 911, the caller told the dispatcher that he had also been shot and shortly after stopped communicating with the dispatcher.
When law enforcement arrived at the scene, they saw Ostrem leaving his home. Despite being told to stop, he continued walking west on Main Street. According to the affidavit, a responding Game, Fish and Parks officer contacted Ostrem down the street and demanded he get on the ground.
Ostrem obeyed this order and told the officer that he had a gun in his pocket.
As officers approached Ostrem, they saw what they described as an AR-style rifle on the ground near him. They noticed that Ostrem was bleeding from his left hand and that he smelled of alcohol.
In Ostrem’s pocket, officers found a .380-caliber handgun, as well as shotgun shell casings and at least one rifle shell casing.
Upon entering the residence from which the 911 call was made, law enforcement found three people dead from apparent gunshot wounds. Law enforcement then went to Ostrem’s home, where they made contact with an adult member of Ostrem’s family.
DCI agents interviewed the family member who told them that on Thursday, May 23, 2024, a neighbor had been at his house while Ostrem was sleeping.
The family member stated that she and the neighbor were drinking when he sexually assaulted her; forcefully kissing her, exposing himself to her and pressing himself against her.
According to the family member, she told Ostrem about the attack on Monday when they were both at home. She told DCI that after learning of the assault, Ostrem “got up and stormed out of the house.”
The family member told DCI agents that Ostrem had not told him anything when he left, that he did not know where he was going and that he did not see him again before authorities arrived. She told them that Ostrem was a former law enforcement officer and that he had guns in the house and possibly in his vehicle.
The South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) is investigating with the help of other agencies.
This is a developing story. Stay with KELOLAND News online and on-air for more coverage.
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