Scott County Attorney Ron Hocevar said that St. Paul police were justified when they fatally shot a murder suspect during his arrest last year.

Hocevar announced his decision Saturday, saying that St. Paul officers acted reasonably to protect themselves from harm when they shot Seantrell Tyreese Murdock in September outside a home where he was staying in Belle Plaine.

"While the premature loss of life is always a tragedy, in this situation the officers acted both reasonably and responsibly," Hocevar said in a news release.

Hocevar said the officers had tried "to peaceably arrest Mr. Murdock for an assassination-style murder of an unarmed civilian in Saint Paul on the previous day," but that Murdock's actions "far exceeded 'resisting arrest' and rose to the level of presenting a clear and present danger to the arresting officers."

Authorities used surveillance footage to identify Murdock as the man who shot 66-year-old artist Carrie Kwok in St. Paul's Lowertown neighborhood. Kwok was painting a mural in her building's parking lot when, according to police, Murdock approached her and shot her from behind.

Kwok, who had two children and four grandchildren, had only recently moved into the Lowertown Lofts Artist Cooperative. Her death rattled neighbors, who gathered days after the murder to mourn her and support each other. Police Chief Axel Henry called the murder, which police said appeared to have been random, "one of the most cold-blooded things I've ever seen in my life."

Officers tracked Murdock to Belle Plaine within a day of the Sept. 25 shooting, surrounding him outside a home in the 100 block of Meridian Street. Body camera footage shows officers approaching him and yelling "He's got a gun!" before gunshots ring out. The footage shows a handgun near Murdock as they handcuff and arrest him.

"Why did you shoot me?" Murdock asked officers. "Because you had a gun in your hand, dude," one officer responded.

Medics airlifted Murdock to HCMC in Minneapolis, where he died that day.

As a felon, Murdock was barred from owning firearms. Court records show that his mother petitioned to have him committed for mental illness, citing bipolar disorder and another condition combining symptoms from schizophrenia and a mood disorder.

Richard Mims-Angel identified Murdock on the day officers shot him, explaining that he had helped raise Murdock since the age of 2. Murdock had four children.

"We're distraught," Mims-Angel said after the shooting. "The people that aren't crying are blank and numb."

Josie Albertson-Grove, Elliot Hughes, Louis Krauss and Paul Walsh of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this report.