An Eau Claire County District Attorney says the October 5th officer involved shooting that left a Wausau man dead was “fully justified.”
The officer, Jason Ruppert is now cleared of any wrongdoing in the shooting death of Christian Peterson.
The District Attorney, Brian Wright tells WEAU-TV, he's gone through reports, and audio and video recordings, and says that officers who responded acted professionally.
After a chase through Eau Claire, Peterson fled on foot. When the officer approached him, he had a .45 caliber handgun in one hand, with his finger on the trigger. Police say he ignored commands to stop and drop the gun. That's when Ruppert fired a dozen times in about four seconds.
“If somebody goes to the ground, they can still have a firearm in their hand, and they can still successfully fire or kill an officer during that kind of an exchange,” explained Eau Claire Police Chief Jerry Matysik during an interview with WEAU-TV.
Officer Ruppert has been back to his regular duties at the police department for the past week.
