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ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) -- Washington County's top prosecutor says a St. George police officer was justified in fatally shooting a man who refused to drop a weapon that turned out to be a pellet gun.
County Attorney Brock Belnap says police had no reasonable way to know the gun was a pellet gun and not a rifle when Officer William Sweetwood shot 48-year-old Craig Steiner on Oct. 9.
Belnap says Sweetwood and another officer at the scene should not be prosecuted.
Police say Steiner would not put down his gun when the officers arrived to a call from a woman who said Steiner told her he killed his wife.
Steiner's wife turned out to be fine and was with police when her husband walked out the door with the gun.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
