HARTFORD — The Attorney General’s Office on Friday declared that police were justified when they shot and killed a man who had strangled his stepfather and advanced on officers with a knife.

Eric Newell, 52, was fatally shot March 29 after sheriff’s deputies were called to a home at 299 Tucker Road for a report that an 80-year-old man had been assaulted.

Deputies from both Oxford and Androscoggin counties responded.

According to the attorney general’s report, police tried to coax Newell out of the home peacefully while the suspect clutched a knife and advised the officers that they should shoot him.

When Newell came out of the house, according to the report, he was stabbing himself in the chest while appearing focused on a pair of police officers.

Oxford deputies Reece Rodrigue and Derek MacDonald both shot Newell after he ran at the officers with a knife, refusing to drop it, police said. Officers had also tried using a taser to subdue Newell to no avail, according to the report.

“All the facts and circumstances point to the conclusion that Deputy Rodrigue and Deputy MacDonald acted in self-defense and defense of another when they shot Mr. Newell,” according to the report, signed by Attorney General Aaron M. Frey.

Newell’s stepfather had told police that he was afraid of his stepson. When he called for help at about 4:45 p.m. the day of the shooting, he was hiding in a barn, according to the report. When police arrived at the scene and talked to the stepfather, he had ligature marks around his neck.

Police had dealt with Newell before, according the report, which noted that in the police computer database, Newell was identified as being combative toward law enforcement.