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There has been a lot of speculation on this and here is the officer's own account of when he shot Ashli Babbitt and the events leading up to it.

Here are some interesting tidbits:

"About 60 to 80 House members and staffers were holed up inside, and it was Byrd’s job to protect them.

As rioters rampaged through the Capitol, Byrd and a few other officers of the U.S. Capitol Police set up a wall of furniture outside the doors.

“Once we barricaded the doors, we were essentially trapped where we were,” Byrd said in an exclusive interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt, speaking publicly for the first time since the riot. “There was no way to retreat. No other way to get out."

“If they get through that door, they’re into the House chamber and upon the members of Congress,” added Byrd, who gave NBC News permission to use his name after authorities had declined to release it.

There were shouts of officers down. Screams from his colleagues under attack by rioters with chemical agents. A report that an officer’s fingertips were blown off.

“It was literally broadcast over the air,” Byrd said. “I said, ‘OK, this is getting serious.’”

But in his interview with Holt, Byrd said he has no doubt that he made the right decision in light of the circumstances.

“I know that day I saved countless lives,” Byrd said. “I know members of Congress, as well as my fellow officers and staff, were in jeopardy and in serious danger. And that’s my job.”

Byrd said he had no idea whether the person he shot was carrying a weapon. It was only later that night that he found out that the rioter was a woman who was unarmed.

When Byrd started hearing reports of officers down, he didn’t know the extent of their injuries. At one point, Byrd said, an even more alarming message came over the radio: a report of shots fired, which he learned much later was false.

He said he told them that pipe bombs had been found in the vicinity of the building and that rioters were using weapons against officers. You need to gather your gas masks, Byrd said he told them.

“I believe it was at that point in time” that “the members, as well, started to believe serious harm or injury could come to them,” Byrd said.

Byrd said he had no knowledge that any officers were there. Because of the furniture stacked on his side of the door, he also couldn’t make out how many people were on the other side or whether they were carrying weapons.

“It was impossible for me to see what was on the other side,” he said.

But he did see the person now known to be Babbitt start coming through the broken glass.

“I could not fully see her hands or what was in the backpack or what the intentions are,” Byrd said. “But they had shown violence leading up to that point.”