A judge who presided over an inquest into the fatal police shooting of an armed man in Cambridge has determined that the officers were justified in opening fire, court records show.
A nine-page ruling on Sept. 16 from District Court Judge Holly V. Broadbent said two police officers, James Nestor and Donald Conrad, acted lawfully when they shot William Woodworth, 64, on the evening of Aug. 21 in Central Square.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan had requested the closed-door review of the matter by Broadbent, who heard from witnesses and reviewed 38 exhibits in reaching her decision. Ryan’s office released a copy of Broadbent’s ruling on Friday.
Broadbent wrote that a security guard at 675 Mass. Ave. had called 911 shortly before 8 p.m. on the night in question to report people loitering in a private lot behind the building.
Among the responding officers was Conrad, who approached the passenger door of a Jeep Compass and recognized the man sitting in the driver’s seat as Woodworth, Broadbent said.
“Officer Conrad had previously stopped a car Mr. Woodworth had operated where a search of the car resulted in the discovery of a firearm in the driver’s side door,” Broadbent wrote.
In that matter, a charge of unlawful gun possession filed against Woodworth was dropped owing to “the unconstitutionality” of the stop, Broadbent wrote.
A month before Woodworth’s death, Conrad had conducted a separate traffic stop “where Mr. Woodworth and another individual were inside a car in which police recovered crack cocaine and a double sided machete.”
On the night of Aug. 21, Conrad ordered Woodworth out of the vehicle, and as he began to exit he “slid his right hand under the driver’s seat and pulled out a firearm,” Broadbent wrote.
She said Conrad ordered Woodworth three times to drop the gun.
“Woodworth ignored his commands, turned left as he exited the car, and pointed the firearm at Officer [David] Kerns, who had approached the driver’s side door,” Broadbent wrote.
Kerns immediately grabbed Woodworth’s arms to disarm him, she wrote. Conrad then fired six shots at Woodworth through the lowered passenger window, while Nestor shot him once, she wrote.
Police began performing first aid, but Woodworth was pronounced dead at the scene, Broadbent wrote.
“The entire time elapsed from the beginning of Officer Conrad’s interaction with Woodworth to the shooting was less than 60 seconds,” Broadbent wrote, adding that an autopsy found Woodworth sustained “a total of five gunshot wounds: one to the head, one to the shoulder, and three to the back.”
Broadbent said investigators recovered a .38 Special gun from Woodworth that was loaded with five rounds.
She said Woodworth’s mother and sister both later told authorities that he’d been diagnosed with psychosis and bipolar disorder following a traumatic brain injury he had suffered in a motor vehicle crash when he was 18.
“Woodworth had been hospitalized multiple times throughout his adult life because of his mental health issues, and had on occasion been violent when he combined his prescribed medications with alcohol and illegal narcotics,” Broadbent said. “Woodworth on one occasion told his sister that the best way to die would be to point a gun at someone else.”
Broadbent said it was “objectively reasonable” for the officers to open fire in the face of the imminent, armed threat presented by Woodworth.
“Any reasonable police officer in their position would reasonably believe that both the officers and civilians were in imminent danger of being seriously injured or killed,” Broadbent wrote. “The Court finds their actions were justified.”
Ryan’s office said the district attorney has “accepted the findings” and will not seek criminal charges.
Soon after his death, family members recalled Woodworth, of Watertown, as a handyman and artist whose mental health struggles dated back to childhood.
“I want people to know him how he was: A very lovely and loving person,” his wife, Felicita Woodworth, said during an August interview.
Material from previous Globe coverage was used in this report.
Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.