Gunman kills hair salon manager and then himself on Tuesday

Sioux Falls South Dakota. Sioux Falls police said on Tuesday the manager of a hair salon in Sioux Falls named Amanda Connors died when she was shot by the gunman Tyrone Leeon Smith, 38 who then shot himself to the head and died.

Four employees fled the Cost Cutter hair salon with two children to safety. The events of this tragic incident commenced on Tuesday afternoon when Smith took his two children who are aged less than two years of age at gunpoint from a babysitter. Smith took the two children to the hair salon where the mother of the children worked.

A SWAT team then surrounded the building where they found Connors dead of a gunshot wound in the parking lot. The officers entered the salon and found Smith dead inside with a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Sioux Falls police sergeant Loren McManus said Smith let the four employees and the two children leave the salon while he locked himself inside the salon. McManus said he knew of no connection between Connors and Smith.

The Argus Leader newspaper reported Connors who is the mother of the two children had a protection order against Smith to stay away at a distance of 500 feet from her and the children from the home, day care center or hair salon.

Smith pleaded not guilty to assault charges against Connors. Smith was released Monday from a Minnehaha County Jail.

A close friend of Connors Jarod Smith said of her memory of knowing Connors "She was absolutely a sweetheart. She could light up a room."

New sources Kristi Eaton, Dirk Lammers, Associated Press, The Advocate and The Argus Leader