Prosecutor: Officer justified in shooting woman with knife

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - The Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office says a Spokane corrections officer was justified in killing a 70-year-old woman brandishing a knife in the lobby of the Spokane County Jail.

The Spokesman-Review reports Nancy King had repeatedly rung the buzzer by the locked jail lobby door just before 8 p.m. Dec. 4 when a cashier at the jail asked Sgt. Justin White for help.

Authorities say White signaled for the cashier to unlock the doors so White could talk to King. Seconds later, King pulled a “large knife” from her coat pocket and raised it “within inches of White’s face,” a news release from the county said.

White fired his weapon – the medical examiner found King died of multiple gunshot wounds – just before he fell backward over a bench behind him.

Toxicology tests determined that King’s blood ethanol level was 0.12 and that she had taken citalopram, an antidepressant.

“Under these facts and circumstances, Sgt. White was justified in his use of deadly force,” the county’s news release reads. “Therefore, no criminal charges will be filed against Sgt. White in this matter.”