Great Falls police cleared in fatal 2017 shooting of man

GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — The Great Falls police officers who fatally shot a man in December have been cleared of any wrongdoing by a coroner's inquest jury.

The Great Falls Tribune reported Monday that the officers were cleared in the December 2017 shooting of Stacy Micheletti.

Officers shot Micheletti 15 times, striking him in the head, chest and knee.

Authorities had sought Micheletti after reports of a suspicious man hiding in the bushes and pointing a gun at people near several schools.

Dashboard footage from of one of the responding officer's cars shows Micheletti back away from the police in front of him, then pull what appeared to be a pistol from his waistband and raise it toward officers before he was shot.