“I called police to help him, not to kill him,” said Alfred Olango’s sister after San Diego police officers opened fire and shot the 30-year-old on Tuesday afternoon.

Olango’s sister called police because her brother was acting strangely and she wanted to get him some help. Instead, officers misinterpreted what many witnesses are claiming was a moment of mental illness as a threat and proceeded to take and shoot him, according to Al Jazeera. He was pronounced dead later that evening.

“Why couldn’t you tase him? I told you he is sick. And you guys shot him!” Olango’s sister said in the video she posted to Facebook live.

According to a statement released by police, Olango “refused multiple instructions by the first officer on scene to remove his concealed hand from in his pocket. … 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.”

It was later found that Olango was unarmed at the time of his shooting and some witnesses even claim that he had his hands in the air. San Diego police have yet to specify what the item they mistook for a possible weapon was, according to New York Daily News.

According to CBS8, one witness claims Olango has actually suffered a seizure just before the shooting. Protestors soon began to gather near the scene of the shooting to express their anger over the incident.

The El Cajon Police Department later released a photo of the incident taken from a video recorded by a nearby witness.

 

Photo Caption: Alfred Olango Facebook