On June 26, 1975, gunfire erupted at the Jumping Bull ranch on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Oglala, South Dakota, during a confrontation between members of the American Indian Movement and two FBI agents, Jack R. Coler and Ronald A. Williams. The exchange left both agents dead and, amid a prolonged firefight involving numerous law enforcement reinforcements, 23-year-old Joseph Bedell Stuntz, a Coeur d’Alene descendant and AIM member, was fatally shot in the head.

Reports say Stuntz’s head wound was caused by a bullet fired by a BIA rifleman or another law enforcement officer at the scene. His body was reportedly found wearing an FBI jacket that had belonged to one of the deceased agents. Despite the circumstances, no investigation into Stuntz’s killing has been reported. Other AIM members identified at the scene included Leonard Peltier, Bob Robideau, and Dino Butler; Robideau and Butler were tried and acquitted on the agents’ murders after claiming self-defense.

If anyone knew Joseph Bedell Stuntz, his movements that day, or has information about who fired the shot that killed him, please come forward.