A Deschutes County sheriff’s deputy was justified July 2 in fatally shooting an armed, 54-year-old woman during a confrontation outside her apartment west of Redmond, District Attorney Patrick Flaherty ruled today.

Deputy Michael Sundberg fired on Cindy Shepard as she advanced on two other deputies, a shotgun in her hands, “in the firing position,” according to a report by Flaherty.

Sundberg fired one rifle round, striking Shepard in the torso and killing her around 10:30 p.m., Flaherty found.

Shepard, “over the course of approximately 40 minutes,” fired at least two rounds from a handgun and repeatedly threatened to fire on deputies while ignoring pleas to drop her firearms, according to Flaherty. The woman, who was being questioned as part of a investigation when the incident began, entered and exited her apartment during the standoff at least three times, “each time coming out with a different firearm.”

The events that led to Shepard’s death started with a sheriff’s lieutenant, Chad Davis, stopping at her apartment to follow up on an investigation into the delivery to her neighbor of a package meant for Shepard. Inside, the neighbor discovered a plastic bag of white powder, according to Flaherty.

Shepard, at first cooperative, became agitated and ordered Davis out of her apartment, then eventually emerged from her apartment with a revolver, with a “rage look on her face.” Two more sheriff’s deputies arrived in the mean time and positioned themselves outside the two-story residence before Sundberg arrived.

As he lay near Davis behind a dirt berm, Sundberg, according to Flaherty’s report, watched as Shepard “turned her attention on deputies Joye and Baldasar and began moving toward them.” Shepard ignored Joye’s commands over his patrol car public address system to stop. Flaherty wrote that Sundberg had “no doubt in his mind” that Shepard would shoot one of the two deputies “unless he stopped her.”

More to come in The Bulletin as this story develops.