The shooting by an off-duty trooper that killed a neighbor was justified under the state’s Castle Doctrine law of self-defense, according to Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger.

Kristopher A. “Kit” Barkus, 25, was fatally shot by Trooper Brian Knirnschild about 8:40 p.m. June 6 after he showed up outside the trooper’s September Drive home in Butler Township. Barkus had with him an Airsoft gun.

“Legally, it was a justifiable homicide,” Goldinger said. “I don’t know how I could come to any other conclusion.”

The county’s top law enforcement officer announced his decision after reviewing findings of a two-week investigation by the state police.

“Trooper Knirnschild, because of the circumstances, acted under his belief that he had to protect himself and his family.”

But the Barkus family discounted the findings, arguing the investigation was compromised from the beginning, said their attorney, Al Lindsay.

“The family’s concern was this was an internal investigation done by the agency under scrutiny,” Lindsay said. “The family believes this shooting was not justified.”

Cpl. Dan Herr, a crime unit investigator at the Butler barracks, declined to comment on Goldinger’s decision, noting that police made no recommendation to the district attorney after their investigation.

”We simply presented the facts to him to make a decision,” Herr said.

Goldinger, in announcing his decision, detailed the police case.

Barkus left his home that night telling family members that he was going to jump off a bridge.

Investigators said Barkus had a history of mental health issues and was taking prescription medication for depression.

After Barkus left, his older brother, Bobby, went looking for him. Barkus’ mother called 911 to report her son’s threat.

Bobby, driving his car, spotted Kristopher on Knirnschild’s front porch and pulled into the driveway.

Goldinger said Bobby made a plea to his younger brother: “I love you. Please do not do anything stupid and come home.”

The 27-year-old Knirnschild was at home with his wife and their three young daughters. He noticed one of his girls at the front door pointing outside.

The trooper looked out and saw Kristopher, He also noticed the car at the end of his driveway. He did not know if anyone was in the vehicle.

“He doesn’t know if Kris drove there or what his intentions are,” Goldinger said of the trooper.

He noted that the trooper was familiar with Kristopher, who had previously showed up at the home uninvited.

At the earlier visit, Kristopher, who knew his neighbor was a trooper, had implored Knirnschild, “Arrest me. I need help.”

Goldinger said that prior episode possibly weighed on the trooper the night of June 6.

“I think he was concerned with (Kristopher’s) mental state,” Goldinger said.

After seeing Kristopher on his porch, Knirnschild went into his bedroom and got his personal firearm, a .380-caliber pistol.

By the time he returned to the door, he noticed Kristopher was back at the car. He shouted to his neighbor, “I told you not to come back here.”

Citing the police investigation, Goldinger said Kristopher, who was wearing a backpack, turned around and started to walk toward the house.

“Kris somehow reached into his backpack and pulled out what appeared to be a gun,” he said.

Police later disclosed that the gun actually was a Powerline Airstrike 240 air gun, which resembles a Beretta 92FS handgun.

Goldinger stressed that Knirnschild, at the time, believed it was a real gun.

“I looked at a picture of it,” he said, “It looked like a Beretta. It looked real.”

Kristopher pointed the gun at Knirnschild, while the trooper’s wife and their children looked out the front window, Goldinger said.

Knirnschild ordered Kristopher to drop the gun. Instead, Kristopher pointed it at his own head. The trooper fired twice, Goldinger said.

Goldinger said that action was in keeping with police training.

“They explained it to me as, “We’re trained to act, not react,’” he said.

One of the shots hit Kristopher.

“He’s going down and points his gun at (Knirnschild) again,” Goldinger recounted, “and the trooper empties his pistol.”

In all, Knirnschild fired six shots, the investigation found. Two shots hit Kristopher, one in the lower right abdomen and one in the chest.

But fearing the threat remained, Goldinger said, Knirnschild ran back into the house and got his service pistol.

However, when he returned, he saw the car take off down the street. He also noticed Kristopher’s gun and backpack laying on the sidewalk.

Police said Bobby immediately drove his wounded brother to Butler Memorial Hospital. Kristopher later was flown to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, where he died.

An autopsy ruled Kristopher died of homicide. Goldinger found that the shooting was justified under the stand-your-ground provision of the Castle Doctrine, which was broadened in 2011.

The law permits the use of deadly force in self-defense situations outside a person’s home or business, Under previous law, deadly force was not justifiable if a person could safely retreat except when the threat was inside his home or business.

“The law fits the facts of this shooting,” Goldinger said.

He said he was aware that the Barkus family has disputed some of the investigation’s findings.

Police on June 17 met with the family and Lindsay at the barracks to review the findings.

“I heard it was very tense,” Goldinger said of the hours-long meeting. “They’re not happy with state police.”

Specifically, Bobby insisted he never saw Kristopher point his gun at Knirnschild.

That claim was included in a prepared statement, dated June 18, that Lindsay turned over to Goldinger to consider before he made his decision whether to charge Knirnschild.

Goldinger, however, countered that since Kristopher’s back was toward him, Bobby was not in the position to see his younger brother point the gun at the trooper.

The Barkus family disputes other details of the police investigation, Lindsay said.

“The family believes the full picture of what happened is not being exposed,” he said, declining to elaborate.

Lindsay, meanwhile, suggested that a coroner’s inquest or a state attorney general’s probe would have been a better way to investigate the shooting.

“We feel there should have been an open examination of all the facts,” he said.

Lindsay would not say if the family intends to file a lawsuit in the shooting.

But Goldinger said he would not second guess the way the case was handled.

“I’m completely comfortable and confident that the investigation was unbiased,” he said. “They did a good job in a tough situation.”