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Investigators process the scene of a shooting where two Rapid City officers shot at a 31-year-old woman in a vehicle on Terra Street in southeast Rapid City May 31.

Rapid City police were justified in the May 31 shooting of 32-year-old Shania Watkins, the state Division of Criminal Investigations announced Friday, almost two months after the incident.

DCI found Officer Josh Hoefler, who fired his service weapon in the incident, was justified in using lethal force against Watkins, whose name was released at the same time as the findings. The case was reviewed by the Minnehaha County State's Attorney Daniel Haggar.

No information was released on Watkins' charges during the review process. She is charged with aggravated eluding and the case was filed June 6. According to the South Dakota online court system, no information is available regarding hearings or bond. Documents filed include the complaint, affidavit and warrant of arrest.

According to the shooting summary released by DCI, the incident began at 4:04 a.m. May 31 when a Rapid City police officer tried to make a traffic stop on a Mitsubishi Galant near the intersection of North Lacrosse Street and East Waterloo Street. The vehicle failed to pull over for an equipment violation and the pursuit began.

While the vehicle traveled slowly on East Waterloo Street, an unknown passenger exited the vehicle.  According to previous reports, the driver — now identified as Watkins — threw something out of the window.

Other officers joined the pursuit with speeds up to 65 mph. After multiple other traffic violations including turning into an oncoming lane of traffic and a failed "tactical vehicle intervention" near East St. Patrick Street, the Galant turned onto Terra Street and stopped perpendicular to the roadway.

Officer Hoefler pulled the front of the patrol vehicle up to the passenger side of the Galant, exited the vehicle and began issuing commands to Watkins.

According to the summary, the Galant began to reverse and collided with the front end of Hoefler's patrol vehicle. Officer Hoefler fired seven rounds through the passenger's front door and window of the Galant. The Galant also collided with a second RCPD vehicle parked parallel to the first vehicle. The second collision caused the Galant to come to a complete stop.

An overhead view of the vehicles in the May 31, 2022, Rapid City Police officer shooting of 32-year-old Shania Watkins.

A third officer arrived after the shooting and issued verbal commands to Watkins to surrender. Additional law enforcement arrived and Watkins was removed from the driver's seat.

Watkins suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to a Rapid City hospital in an undisclosed condition.

South Dakota Attorney General Mark Vargo said further charges against Watkins may be considered now that the investigation is complete.

According to the shooting summary, when agents arrived to investigate the scene, the Galant was still running with the transmission placed in reverse and the back-up lights activated. About 20 residents in the neighborhood were interviewed to identify an eyewitness account.

In a DCI interview with the officer who fired their weapon, the report states the officer believed the direction of the Galant's travel would collide with their open door and pin the officer between their patrol vehicle and door frame.

"Officer #2 recognized that they were in a perilous position and did not have time to retreat or move to safety," the summary states. "Officer #2 said that they made the decision to fire their duty pistol into the passenger side window of the Galant in an effort to stop the vehicle and driver. Officer #2 feared for their safety, the safety of other law enforcement, and the public."

The second officer who arrived on Terra Court and did not fire their weapon told DCI agents that they believed Watkins was going to flee on foot. The officer said their attention was focused on the driver side doors and heard several gunshots in rapid succession. The officer said they were unsure where the shots were coming from. They said they looked over and saw an officer standing outside of their vehicle with their pistol drawn.

The officer said they later broke the glass on the driver side door to remove Watkins from the vehicle.

In an interview with Watkins, she said she was driving her car in Rapid City May 31. She said she could not identify the passenger in her car. She said she had picked up an unknown female walking and was going to give her a ride.

Watkins told agents when police attempted to pull her over, she told the passenger to get out of the vehicle because she had no intention of stopping for police.

"Watkins explained that she did not like the police based on previous life experience," the report states.

According to the summary, Watkins denied being under the influence of substances and admitted to having suicidal thoughts during the time frame. She denied being in possession of illegal contraband and firearms, but admitted she may have thrown trash out of her car.

Watkins told agents she believed the police were going to take her to jail and wanted to take her vehicle home to not incur a tow bill after her arrest. She said she arrived near a family member's residence on Terra Street, stopped the vehicle, placed it in park or neutral and put the keys in her pocket. She said she followed an officer's commands to show her hands and the officer opened fire and shot her. She denied driving her vehicle toward the officer.

According to the summary, Watkins was unable to explain how her statements conflicted with video evidence and medical reports showing she was under the influence of methamphetamine and marijuana.

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Investigators process the scene of a shooting where two Rapid City officers shot at a 31-year-old woman in a vehicle on Terra Street in southeast Rapid City May 31.

An overhead view of the vehicles in the May 31, 2022, Rapid City Police officer shooting of 32-year-old Shania Watkins.

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