BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A coroner’s jury has determined that two police officers were justified when they killed a man during a shootout in Billings.

The Billings Gazette reports officers confronted 26-year-old Chance Mavity, of Shepherd, on Jan. 20 as they were responding to a report of a group trying to pawn stolen weapons. Mavity fired a semi-automatic handgun five times at the two officers, who returned fire.

He died at the scene, and an autopsy determined he had meth in his system.

One of the officers testified he had no choice but to shoot Mavity after the suspect pulled the gun. The officer said, “I waited so long to even fire at him. I could have shot him the moment he pulled that gun out, but I chose not to because I didn’t want to kill this man.”

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Information from: The Billings Gazette, http://www.billingsgazette.com

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