After review of body camera and dash cam recordings, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office declined to pursue charges against a Webster County Sheriff’s deputy in the August shooting of a woman in the 1500 block of 20th Avenue South, according to a Thursday news release.

Melissa Halda, 39, was killed on Aug. 4 when Deputy Brett Knippel fired five rounds at close range while Halda moved towards him with one knife in each hand.

Two deputies and one officer from the Fort Dodge Police Department responded to 1518 20th Ave. S. at about 7:10 that evening after multiple calls reporting Halda as a suicidal woman armed with two knives. One call was from a man who reportedly lived with Halda.

Minutes later, she was shot and died at the scene in the Coleman District, just south of Fort Dodge city limits.

“If Halda would have stopped and unarmed herself there would have been no need for the use of lethal force,” said Special Assistant Attorney General Scott Brown. “Halda was provided every opportunity to end the confrontation peacefully. Instead Halda continued the threat by charging at two officers.”

Brown described Halda’s grip on the knives as aggressive and “consistent with and best suited to stabbing another person,” throughout the report, noting that “she repeatedly told officers that she would kill them.”

The reports said all officers initially had their weapons drawn as they approached the back yard where Halda was, giving her commands to drop the knives. Halda then made “an aggressive move” towards responding Fort Dodge police Sgt. Jody Chansler, who was able to maneuver to put more space between them.

Halda then shifted her attention from Chansler to Deputy Jenny Randleman, Brown said, and started moving quickly towards her. Randleman also retreated to avoid Halda, slipping on uneven ground as she did so.

Halda then moved past Randleman and walked down the gravel driveway towards other houses and vehicles nearby, where numerous bystanders were. Brown said officers had concerns about the safety of bystanders and Halda’s access to transportation and law enforcement vehicles with weapons in them. After she walked away, she stopped about 30 to 40 feet from officers, who followed from a distance.

Brown said she then proceeded to turn around and squat briefly before “quickly walking” back toward Knippel and Randleman, who had their backs to several parked vehicles that made it difficult for officers to retreat further. Knippel had his weapon drawn and pointed at Halda.

“As Halda approached the officers she was making guttural noises that can be heard on body camera audio,” Brown said.

Though Randleman, at Knippel’s direction, attempted to deploy her stun gun on Halda, Halda was advancing too quickly to deploy it within striking distance. Also hindering successful use of the non-lethal force was “her slight build and the fact she would not stop,” said Brown.

Knippel shot at Halda five times when she was within a few feet of him; four of the bullets struck her. Toxicology reports showed that Halda had no alcohol or drugs of abuse in her system at the time of death.

“Because of Halda’s actions in quickly advancing toward Deputy Knippel, he had no other reasonable choice but to shoot Halda,” Brown said.

“The reasonableness of police use of force cannot be evaluated from the perspective of a civilian nor can it be evaluated with a clearer vision afforded by 20/20 hindsight,” Brown said in his analysis, citing 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision Graham v. Connor. “Reasonable force is that force which a reasonable person, in like circumstances, would judge necessary to prevent an injury or loss.”

Making the decision more difficult were distractions posed by the man living with Halda who called 911, which Brown said made the scene more chaotic with constant yelling and confrontation with officers.

“Not only did they have to contend with Halda, but also (the man) who kept attempting to get close to Halda and the officers trying to subdue her,” he said.

Webster County Attorney Darren Driscoll referred the matter to the state out of “an abundance of caution,” to avoid a conflict of interest, since the county is required under Iowa code to provide legal representation and counsel to the Sheriff’s Office.

“We have full faith in the Attorney General’s Office to do a full and thorough investigation,” Driscoll said.

Sheriff Jim Stubbs declined to comment specifically on the case. Prior to the news release Thursday, he said Knippel would return to work once cleared by a psychiatrist, standard procedure for any deputy that experiences a critical incident. Knippel, who has been with the Webster County Sheriff’s Office for 21 years, has been on paid administrative leave since the shooting.