On the early morning of Saturday, June 8, 2024, a bonfire-style house party near South Drexel Drive and 58th Street in Sioux Falls turned deadly when gunfire erupted shortly before 3 a.m. Three people were killed: 43-year-old Daniel Carl Kemnitz, 43-year-old Kellie Elizabeth Reaves, and 34-year-old Michael Andrew Thompson. Two other attendees were wounded. A handgun was recovered at the scene.

Police arrested 30-year-old Justin Cody Rackley at the location of the shooting. Rackley, who moved to South Dakota from Texas in 2020, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault. Authorities said the motive was unclear and that the attack did not appear to be a robbery or a crime of passion; alcohol was being consumed at the party.

This incident was reported as the city’s first triple homicide in more than five decades. If anyone attended that gathering or has information about the events leading up to the shooting, please come forward.