PROVIDENCE — A grand jury has found that the police officers who fatally shot Jason Audette, 34, of Pawtucket, were justified because he had a gun, disregarded repeated commands to drop it and pointed it at the officers before they opened fire.

The grand jury’s finding, which was reported yesterday, clears Pawtucket Police Officers David L. Holden, Mark A. Ramos and Christopher E. LeFort of wrongdoing in the shooting at 64 Coyle Ave., Pawtucket, on July 27, 2007 — the second of two fatal shootings that week by Pawtucket police.

“Because Mr. Audette was armed with a loaded .32-caliber pistol and because he had previously refused to comply with five separate orders to drop his gun, and because he pointed the gun directly at three of the officers involved, the officers felt their lives were in imminent danger and, therefore, were justified in shooting Mr. Audette,” said Michael J. Healey, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office.

By the time the police arrived, Audette had already pointed his gun at Richard Brown to get people in the first-floor apartment to let him in, Healey said.

Brown, who Healey said had gone to the house to inquire about a handyman’s job, got in his car with his two children and tried to back down the driveway after police arrived in response to a 911 call indicating that Audette was trying to force his way in.

The officers also feared for the safety of bystanders, Healey said.

Yesterday was the second time in three months that a grand jury has found that the use of deadly force by Pawtucket police officers was justified.

On Oct. 17, another grand jury determined that Derek Smith, the Pawtucket patrolman who shot and killed Bridget DeGrafft, a 49-year-old Attleboro woman who had hijacked an SUV, was justified in opening fire at her because DeGrafft drove the SUV at him, causing him to fear for his life.

The DeGrafft shooting took place around 1 a.m. July 26, after DeGrafft, who had hijacked the SUV at knifepoint, led Rhode Island state troopers and Pawtucket police on a high-speed chase that ended on the Jefferson Boulevard Exit of Route 95 in Warwick.

The Audette shooting took place 36 hours later, after Audette, an ex-drug addict with a criminal record, went to Coyle Avenue to collect a debt or to settle a score.

Audette’s family members said Audette was angry because someone at Coyle Avenue had accused him of stealing from them.

Audette’s sister, Michelle, said she and her family are upset because the police have said that Audette was shot during an attempted break-in, even though the police know he was acquainted with the people at 64 Coyle Ave., was angry at them for filing a police report accusing him of stealing and had gone there only to straighten out the matter.

Michelle Audette said she and her family still don’t believe her brother was carrying a gun or that the use of force was justified. She said the family has sought copies of the police reports, autopsy report, medical reports, 911 and rescue dispatch tapes related to the shooting, but nothing has been released.

Christian Capizzo, the special assistant attorney general who presented the case to the grand jury, said it isn’t clear why Audette went to 64 Coyle Ave. But before the shooting, Capizzo said, Audette went next door, to the home of Christopher Jones, a 27-year-old acquaintance, and demanded Jones lend him his gun.

When Jones refused, Audette demanded the gun forcefully enough to get it, and said “something to the effect that he has to go to the house next door to collect a debt,” Capizzo said.

When Brown, a retired firefighter who was looking for work as a handyman, pulled up in his Dodge Caravan behind 64 Coyle Ave., he found Audette banging on the apartment door.

By then, Beth Rivet, who lived in the apartment with her boyfriend, Dennis Leite, and another man, was on the telephone, telling the Pawtucket police dispatcher Audette was trying to break in.

Audette saw the police arrive and ducked into the basement, using the side entrance.

Brown told Holden and another police officer, Peter A. Spetelunas, that Audette had been trying to get in and had put a gun to his head when Brown wouldn’t help him.

“Are you sure he has a gun?” Capizzo said the police officers demanded.

“Yes, he has a gun,” Capizzo said Brown replied.

Holden peered into the basement and ordered Audette to come out.

Attempting to escape, he used another door, bumping into Police Officer Donna Joyal as Joyal came down the driveway.

At that point, Capizzo said, Brown was trying to back his Dodge Caravan out of the driveway, telling his children, a boy and girl under 10, to keep their heads down.

Joyal said she saw the gun in Audette’s right hand and his finger on the trigger, but that he didn’t point it at her. She had her own gun drawn, but didn’t use it when Audette pushed past her, mindful, Capizzo said, of Brown and the children in the van.

Ramos and LeFort had positioned themselves at the end of the driveway. They saw the gun in Audette’s hand, Capizzo said, and ordered him to drop it. When he raised the gun instead, the police officers opened fire, Capizzo said. Ramos fired two shots; LeFort fired five.

“He’s struck. I’m not sure how many times,” Capizzo said. “His body turns to the right with his gun raised.”

That put Audette face-to-face with Holden, who ordered him to drop the gun and opened fire when he didn’t comply.

Holden fired five rounds. The autopsy showed that Audette was struck by 11 bullets. Some of them grazed him, Capizzo said. Others penetrated his chest. Audette was pronounced dead at Memorial Hospital.

The .32-caliber pistol Jones had given Audette had a live round of ammunition in the chamber and four live rounds in the magazine, according to Healey. But it wasn’t fired during the incident.

The University of Rhode Island’s forensics lab determined that the firing pin had recently been broken, Healey said. Capizzo said it might have been broken during the confrontation with the police.

jcastell@projo.com