South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg killed a man, not a deer, driving home from dinner Saturday night, according to local officials.
Ravnsborg, 44, was driving back from the Spink County Lincoln Day Dinner in Redfield around 10:30 p.m. Saturday when he hit something in the road, according to the Department of Public Safety. He reported the incident to the Hyde County Sheriff's Office and told officials that he had hit a deer.
The next morning, a body was found in the road instead, that of 55-year-old Joe Boever.
"I am shocked and filled with sorrow following the events of last night," Ravsnborg said in a statement to the Argus Leader. "As Governor Noem stated, I am fully cooperating with the investigation and I fully intend to continue do so moving forward. At this time I offer my deepest sympathy and condolences to the family."
It's still unclear how or why Ravnsborg crashed. South Dakota's Division of Criminal Investigation, which is part of the Attorney General's Office, has handed over the investigation to avoid a conflict of interest, spokesman Tim Bormann told the Rapid City Journal.
"A deer doesn't look like a human," said Boever's cousin, Victor, told the Journal.
Ravnsborg was uninjured in the crash.
