The former mayor of a South Dakota town is accused of murdering three people after becoming enraged over a neighbor allegedly sexually assaulting a family member.
Jay Edward Ostrem, 64, was arrested on Monday and is currently being held in Minnehaha County Jail on $1 million cash-only bond, according to the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office.
Ostrem was the mayor and city councilor of Centerville in 2010, KELO reported, citing previously filed lawsuits against the suspect.
The incident took place around 9:44 p.m. Monday night, when a “frantic” man called 911 and said that his relative had been fatally shot, court papers obtained by KELO said.
The caller claimed that the shooter was a man from across the street, and said the man had gone back into his home.
The man then said that he had also been shot, and stopped communicating with the dispatcher a short time later.
When police arrived at the scene, they witnessed Ostrem leaving his home, the papers explained.
The former mayor ignored the cops’ asking him to stop and continued walking away until a Game, Fish, and Parks officer who responded to the scene met up with him and demanded he get on the ground.
Ostrem complied, and told the officer he had a gun in his pocket, the court write-up noted.
When officers approached, they noticed that Ostrem had an AR-style rifle on the ground near him. He was also bleeding from his left hand and smelled of alcohol.
Officers then found a .380 handgun in Ostrem’s pocket, as well as spent shotgun shell casings and at least one spent rifle casing.
When the police entered the home where the 911 call was made from, they found three people dead from apparent gunshot wounds.
The investigators moved on to Ostrem’s house, where one of his adult family members told them that a neighbor had been at their home on Thursday night, while Ostrem was sleeping.
The family member claimed that she and the neighbor were drinking, and then he forcibly kissed her, exposed himself to her, and pressed himself against her, the court papers said.
The woman explained that she told Ostrem about the assault on Monday, and then “got up and went raging out of the house.”
Ostrem did not say anything as he left, and she did not know where he was going, the woman claimed.
She also said that she did not see Ostrem again until law enforcement arrived at the scene.
Ostrem was former law enforcement, and had weapons in the home and possibly in his car, the woman added.
The incident is now under investigation by the South Dakota’s Division of Criminal Investigation.
The three victims have not been publicly identified pending family notification, the Attorney General’s Office said.
“Jay Ostrem has been arrested and charged with three counts of First Degree Murder, and law enforcement has secured the scene,” said Attorney General Jackley. “There is no further threat to the public.”
