The Des Moines police officer who resigned last year after fatally shooting an unarmed man through the window of her patrol car spent the past year working as an instructor for the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy.

Vanessa Miller resigned from the police department in July 2016, one year after the Des Moines Police department cleared her of any policy violations in the shooting of 28-year-old Ryan Bolinger.

Miller then worked as a general law enforcement instructor at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, which provides training for Iowa’s police officers and is headed by Judy Bradshaw, Des Moines’ former chief of police. Miller left the academy Sept. 29 of this year, according to state officials.

Soon after the shooting, Miller told investigators in the immediate aftermath of the shooting that she had repeatedly warned Bolinger to "get back" from her patrol car before she fired her weapon at him through her closed window and killed him.

Video and audio recordings from Miller's patrol car show that never she never issued that warning, city officials concede. Bolinger's family has sued the city, alleging wrongful death and claiming the police department was negligent in its training and supervision of Miller.

And in a newly disclosed portion of a Miller's deposition as part of the lawsuit, she said that when she saw Bolinger, who was unarmed, walking toward her, she instantly "knew" that he had a gun and intended to shoot her.

She said she had no choice but to fire at Bolinger before she could see his hands or determine whether he was armed.

"When you wait, it's too late," she said. "You don't wait to find out if they're going to kill you first.”

Miller later learned that Bolinger was unarmed.

The June 9, 2015, shooting occurred after Bolinger pulled alongside the patrol car of Officer Ian Lawler, who was handling a traffic stop near Merle Hay Road. According to police, Bolinger got out of his vehicle and began behaving "erratically."

After Lawler told him to pull into a nearby parking lot, Bolinger drove off, with Lawler —and, in a separate car, Miller — following.

After making a U-turn, Bolinger stopped abruptly near Urbandale Avenue. Lawler pulled in front of Bolinger’s car, and Miller pulled in behind.

Within a few seconds, Bolinger exited his car and began walking toward the driver’s side of Miller’s patrol car. Miller drew her gun and fatally shot Bolinger through her window.

Miller said in her deposition that she “100 percent believed” Bolinger intended to do her harm, which is why she shot him. But she acknowledged she couldn't see his hands to tell if he was armed.

“I couldn't see them," Miller replied. "I don't know if it was because he was coming at me so quickly or — they were just down so I couldn't — I couldn't see his hands.”

“If the whole fear is that he's going to shoot you,” the Bolinger family's attorney, Brett Beattie asked, “why not wait until he begins to raise his hands before firing?”

“… You have to make a decision," Miller responded. "… When he ran at me, I knew that if he pulled a gun out, I'm dead. I am dead. I knew that hopefully I wouldn't die right away and I'd be able to do something, but I was preparing to get shot."

At another point in her deposition, Miller indicated that although she later learned that Bolinger wasn't armed, he posed just as great a threat to her without a gun.

“For all I knew, he was going to come punch me — punch me out through my window,” she said. “That's just as dangerous because now I'm knocked out, now I'm no good, he's got my car. So — and that's another thing. If he is on a bunch of drugs, I'm going to take a serious hit and he's not going to feel a thing.”

The Bolingers’ lawsuit against the city is scheduled for trial in January 2018.