The district attorney has decided that three Oceanside police officers who shot and killed a parolee in 2007 were justified in using deadly force, according to a letter released Friday.

According to the Oceanside Police Department's account of the incident, 29-year-old parolee and documented gang member Siaki Ramon Del Rio led officers on a brief car chase that ended in a crash. Del Rio then struggled with the officers after a foot pursuit and told them that he had a gun, officials said.

Del Rio's family challenged the officers' actions in a civil suit filed against the city in January. The suit asserts that the pursuit was "negligent, careless, reckless, wanton and unlawful" and that Del Rio was unarmed at the time.

Three officers fired their weapons that night -- Erik Ellgard, Jon Seabron and Ryan Erwin. All have since returned to duty, police officials said Friday.

Officer Kim Rainwater said that the officers involved had not yet been informed of the district attorney's decision, but they would be on Monday.

The officers fired 24 rounds, hitting Del Rio 20 times, according to an April 17 letter from the district attorney's office released Friday.

After the shooting, medical examiner's investigators found a semi-automatic pistol in Del Rio's jacket pocket, said the letter signed by District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.

"It's reasonable to believe officers Ellgard, Seabron and Erwin all feared for their own lives as well as the lives of one another when Mr. Del Rio told them he was armed and implied he was going to draw his gun and fire," the letter said.

Before firing their guns, the officers tried to control Del Rio with pepper balls fired at his car, a canine that bit him in the leg, and a stun gun, Dumanis' letter said.

The letter also said Del Rio had methamphetamine in his system at the time of his death.

The medical examiner's office said Friday that Del Rio's autopsy results were not available to the public at the request of investigators.

The pursuit began on Big Bend Way at about 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 23, 2007, after the officers attempted to stop a man, later identified as Del Rio, who they recognized as being wanted for a felony warrant, officials said then.

They said Del Rio was considered armed and dangerous and that he sped off instead of acquiescing to a traffic stop that night.

The ensuing chased lasted about four minutes and ended less than two miles away, when Del Rio crashed into a shed and chain-link fence at a mobile home park in the 200 block of North El Camino Real, officials said.

In January, Del Rio's widow Deana Del Rio filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Oceanside. Siaki Del Rio's two minor sons are also listed as plaintiffs.

The suit came after the city rejected her claim for $60 million in damages last summer.

Del Rio's attorney could not be reached Friday to comment on the status of the case.

Contact staff writer Colleen Mensching at (760) 739-6675.