Protesters have taken to the streets after a black man was shot dead by police officers in California.
The man, aged in his 30s, was gunned down by police in El Cajon, a suburb northeast of San Diego, after officers received an emergency call saying he “was not acting like himself” and had been walking in and out of traffic.
He allegedly pulled an object from his pockets and held it out in a “shooting stance”, police chief Jeff Davis said during a press conference on Tuesday night.
In response, one officer fired his gun at the men, while a second officer discharged a taser.
It is not clear if the man was armed but investigators did not find a firearm at the scene of the shooting, which was close to a local restaurant, police said.
Outraged residents took to the streets of El Cajon to vent their anger at police after the killing.
A statement from El Cajon police department said: “Today, the El Cajon Police Department received calls of a man who was ‘not acting like himself’. He was walking in traffic, not only endangering himself, but motorists.”
Describing the shooting, it continued: “The subject paced back and forth while officers tried to talk to him.
“At one point, the subject rapidly drew an object from his front pants pocket, placed both hands together and extended them rapidly toward the officer taking up what appeared to be a shooting stance.
“At this time, the officer with the electronic control device discharged his weapon. Simultaneously, the officer with the firearm discharged his weapon several times, striking the subject.”
The killing comes as tensions between parts of the black community in the US and law enforcement reach boiling point.
Black Lives Matter monitoring group Mapping Police Violence said some 214 black people have been killed by US police this year out of a total of 821.