The U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. will not pursue charges against the Metropolitan Police Department officer who fatally shot an allegedly armed man in May.

In a statement on Thursday, prosecutors said there was insufficient evidence to pursue either federal criminal civil rights or D.C. charges against the officer. The decision came after a review of physical evidence, body-worn camera footage, medical reports, and witness interviews, among other accounts from the date of the shooting.

According to the USAO, police were dispatched on May 24 around 11 a.m. to the 1200 block of Mississippi Avenue SE following the call that a woman was being held against her will by her ex-boyfriend. The man was reportedly armed with a rifle and was later identified as 26 year-old Vedo Hall.

When police arrived at the apartment and announced themselves, the USAO claims, Hall opened the front door and replied “I’m about to shoot!” Police officers then breached the door and, once inside, found the apartment empty with the rear window open, the statement continues, and police concluded that Hall and the woman fled the building.

Later that same day – around 3 p.m. – the USAO says MPD arrived at the 1300 block of Alabama Ave. SE, where they had traced the woman’s cell phone. One officer, previously identified as Noah Rathbun, found Hall carrying a large cardboard box, according to the USAO’s account. Hall then drew the rifle from the box, “took up a shooting stance and pointed his rifle at the officer,” the USAO’s summary continues, to which Rathbun shouted, “Stop! Stop! Put it down!”

Rathbun fired two rounds at Hall, the USAO says, striking him in the face and leg. According to the statement, Hall died from a gunshot wound to the head.

“After a careful, thorough, and independent review of the evidence, federal prosecutors have found insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officers used excessive force under the circumstances,” the USAO’s statement concludes.

The D.C. Council last summer passed a police reform bill mandating that body camera footage be released to the public within 5 days of a police shooting. (That decision came in the wake of last summer’s racial justice protests, amid calls for greater transparency in these investigations.) The law requires the consent of the family to share the footage, and Hall’s family declined to allow it to be released, according to a May 28 letter from the Bowser administration.

At the time of the incident, MPD Chief Robert Contee III said Rathbun had been on the police force for five years, and was placed on administrative leave pending the investigation. MPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether Rathbun has been reinstated.

Previously:

D.C. Police Fatally Shoot Allegedly Armed Man Near Congress Heights Metro