MARINETTE, Wis. — No charges will be brought in the fatal shooting of a 32-year-old woman at a Marinette apartment building Dec. 1, authorities said.

Marinette Police Det. Mike Kahles said a “complex investigation” showed Edwina Anderson was shot after she came at Nicholas Smith with a knife, stabbing him in the left hand as they struggled.

Based on the investigation, witnesses, audio and video, “it has been determined that the shooting was justified under Wisconsin law and no charges will be filed at this time,” Kahles said at a news conference Saturday.

Marinette police were sent to the Trolley Station Apartments, 1529 Main St., about 4:05 p.m. Dec. 1 on a report that a woman with gunshot wounds had been found in a hallway. When they arrived, Anderson had what appeared to be a bloody knife in her hand, Kahles said. She was taken to Aurora Medical Center Bay Area, where she died.

A second 911 call came from Smith, who said he’d been stabbed and thought he’d shot someone. He, too, was taken to Aurora Medical Center Bay Area,

undergoing outpatient surgery on his injured hand before being lodged in Marinette County Jail.

The investigation indicated the 31-year-old Smith was in the process of moving in with Anderson, Kahles said. On Dec. 1, they had an altercation that escalated from a verbal “husband and wife” argument to pushing and shoving, the detective said. Anderson then went to the kitchen to grab a knife, while Smith took a .357 revolver from under the mattress in the bedroom.

Though Smith warned Anderson he had a gun, she still came at him in the bedroom with the knife, slashing at his face and stabbing through his left hand as they fell to the floor. He then opened fire, striking her in the right chest, right rear hip, right arm and upper back left shoulder, which an autopsy by the Fond du Lac County medical examiner showed was likely the fatal wound, as it penetrated both lobes of her lung, Kahles said.

Smith did have a permit for the pistol, Kahles said. He had lived in Menominee, Michigan, for the past three years, and before that Plover, Wis. When asked about a prior history at the residence, another police official replied, “He was not in our system at all.”

Marinette County District Attorney DeShea Morrow called it “a very difficult decision,” but one based on available evidence. The investigation included Marinette Police Department, the Marinette County Sheriff’s Office, the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory Crime Scene Response Unit, the Oconto County Sheriff’s Office and the Marinette County District Attorney’s Office, working with the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

While three children — authorities gave few details about them but did say all were younger than 14 — were in the apartment, none were in the immediate area or witnessed the shooting, Kahles said. They were taken to Willow Tree Cornerstone Child Advocacy Center in Green Bay, Wis., to be interviewed. The Marinette County Department of Health and Human Services now is working with family members to determine long-term care options, officials said.

Authorities offered their condolences to Anderson’s family and said her sister had been notified in advance of their decision not to charge Smith.