ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office has ruled that an officer was justified when he shot a woman who had been waving around a knife and holding a device that resembled a stun gun.

The incident happened on Jan. 11 at the former Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital in Allentown on the 800 block of South 5th Street.

In a news release, the DA’s office said the officer’s actions were reasonable both objectively and subjectively.

The woman who was hit posed an imminent risk of harm to the officer as well as to two Allentown EMS medics, a hospital security guard, and arguably herself, the DA’s office ruled.

The officer gave repeated clear commands for the woman to drop a knife she was holding, according to the news release.

The force used was limited to that which was necessary to end the threat and was effective in doing so, the DA’s office said.

The DA’s office said she was shot once and survived her injuries.

The officer, whose name is not being released, will not be criminally charged, according to the DA’s office. The woman’s name will also not be released.

A security guard was working at the former Good Shepherd facility and was in the lobby Jan. 11 when he heard knocking on the window. He saw the woman outside, and she asked him to call EMS and claimed she was being abused, the DA’s office said in its news release.

The DA’s office said the guard described her as “stressed, panicked and anxious.”

The guard allowed the woman into the lobby and he called Allentown EMS. When EMS arrived, he met them as well as the Allentown Police officer and told them what the woman had said. He led two EMS workers and the officer into the lobby at which time the woman stood up with a knife in her hand, according to the DA’s office.

The DA’s office said the officer’s body-worn camera footage shows he gave 16 clear verbal commands to the woman to drop the knife, which she did not comply with.

Instead, the woman waved the knife around and moved close to the officer and first responders while making statements like, “It’s just a knife,” and “Are you serious?” according to the news release.

As the woman moved toward the officer, he moved closer to the exit and entryway, the DA’s office said.

The woman was then at a counter near the entrance lobby area going through a white box of her possessions with her back turned to the officer, according to the DA’s office.

The officer tried to transition from his firearm to his stun gun with the intention of subduing her, if necessary, with less than lethal force, the DA’s office said in its news release.

Before he could transition to his stun gun, the woman turned back toward the officer with the knife in one hand and a device in her other hand that appeared to be either a gun, stun gun, or another type of weapon, according to the news release.

According to the DA’s office, the officer described it as a yellow and black object that had a handle and a trigger on it.

The DA’s office said the woman moved toward the officer with the object in her right hand and extended it in what the office described as a “firing manner.”

Believing the object was a stun gun or some kind of weapon that could incapacitate him, he fired one round from his handgun, the DA’s office said.

According to the DA’s office, the round hit the woman in the pelvis area and knocked her to the ground. She tossed the object away as well as the knife that she had initially approached the first responders with, the DA’s office said.

The woman said several times, “That wasn’t a gun,” according to the news release.

The DA’s office said the officer and the two medics approached the woman to ensure she had no additional weapons and all three first responders provided emergency medical treatment to her.

The officer weighed whether the woman’s possession of what could be a stun gun created a risk of death or serious bodily injury to him or anyone else and he concluded that it did, the DA’s office said in its news release.

As part of his training, he had been tased and knew that when tased, he was fully incapacitated for approximately five seconds and partially incapacitated well after that, the DA’s office said.

The officer said he understood that if he was incapacitated while in the lobby, the woman would easily be able to take his firearm and ammunition he carried with him, according to the DA’s office. He understood the risk this created for himself as well as for the two medics, the guard, and any other people in the building, according to the news release.

The DA’s office said the object that the woman had in her right hand and pointed at the officer was ultimately found not to be a stun gun, but a digital infrared non-contact thermometer, also known as a “temperature gun.”

It resembles a stun gun in many aspects including size, shape, and color scheme, the DA’s office said. It has a handle and trigger, and it was pointed at the officer when he discharged his firearm, according to the DA’s office.

Based on the totality of the circumstances of the incident, including the manner in which the woman presented the temperature gun during this incident and her immediate statements after the shooting, it can only be concluded that she intended to threaten and/or menace the officer with the device, the DA’s office said.

The District Attorney’s Office said the woman is not a resident or patient of Good Shepherd.

In a Facebook post, Good Shepherd said it was aware of what happened and cooperated with police.

Good Shepherd said the incident did not involve any of its patients, residents, or employees, and that its Raker Center nearby followed lockdown procedures out of an abundance of caution. Since the shooting, Good Shepherd said all of its locations are operating regularly.