Prosecutor: Officers justified in fatal Appleton Transit Center shooting

 

APPLETON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Prosecutors say two officers were justified when they shot and killed a man during a gunfight that left an Appleton firefighter dead.

Bodycam video was released Thursday afternoon.

The shooting happened between Ruben Houston and police outside Appleton's Transit Center in May.

Officer Paul Christensen and Sergeant Christopher Biese won't face criminal charges.

Christensen was wounded along with a bystander.

Houston fired the shot that killed firefighter Mitch Lungaard. Houston was then shot and killed by police.

"The evidence demonstrates that when officers fired their weapons, they believed that Mr. Houston was engaged in behavior that threatened the lives of themselves, the firefighters, the paramedics, and citizens in the area of the Transit Center," Outagamie County District Attorney Melinda Tempelis said.

Lungaard died of his injuries at a hospital.

The District Attorney says before the shooting happened, Houston was being treated with Narcan.