By Associated Press - Wednesday, May 3, 2017

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Police say the two men found dead in an apparent murder-suicide in Sioux Falls were acquaintances who were involved in a physical fight before their deaths.

Authorities on Wednesday said 45-year-old Ronald Cook fatally shot 36-year-old Brett Thooft Sunday evening at Cook’s apartment in an industrial area. Thooft was shot in the head and chest with a handgun. Officials say Cook took his own life at the apartment on Monday.

Officers were called to the apartment on Tuesday morning when a friend arrived to give Cook a ride to work and found a note which said something bad had happened in the apartment and that police should be called.

Investigators say alcohol was likely a factor in the deaths and that a small amount of marijuana was found in the apartment.

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This story has been corrected to show that Cook fatally shot Thooft and later killed himself, not the other way around.

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