In a press release, El Cajon police said the man, who remained unnamed, pulled an unidentified object, which was not a firearm, from his pants pocket and assumed “what appeared to be a shooting stance.” At this point, officers fired on the man. He has “passed away as a result of his injuries.”

Police released a frame grab from a video of the scene that appears to show the man with arms thrust forward and hands clasped together as two officers confront him with weapons drawn.

The victim’s name has not been released.

A crowd gathered in the parking lot to protest the shooting, which follows fatal shootings this month of black men by police in Tulsa and Charlotte.

In a press release and press conference, El Cajon Police Chief Jeff Davis said police received calls just after 2 p.m. Pacific time concerning a man acting “erratically.” His behavior involved walking into traffic.

When two officers – neither of them named by police – approached the man, who wore a black tank top and blue jeans, the man refused to comply with orders from police to remove his hands from his pocket.

At this point one of the officers drew a his firearm, while the other drew a “less lethal electronic control device.”

The man “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,” police said. While the object remains unidentified, Davis said it was not a firearm.

At this point, both officers fired their weapons simultaneously. It is unclear if the discharge from the electronic control device struck the man.

He was shot several times by the officer with the firearm, police say.

The officers have been placed on three-day administrative leave.

A Los Ponchos employee reportedly caught the shooting on a cellphone video, which the worker turned over to police.

The department has released a still from the video, which shows the victim in a “shooting stance.”

Family members of the victim told The San Diego Union-Tribune that the victim suffered from mental illness.

A video of the immediate aftermath of the shooting was uploaded to Facebook Live by Rumbie Mubaiwa. The footage shows a woman, reportedly the sister of the victim, wailing uncontrollably and repeating the phrase, “You just killed my brother,” “They killed my brother,” and “You guys just killed my brother in front of me.”

“I called you to help me, but you killed my brother,” the sister said.

“They didn’t even tell her if his brother was still alive,” Mubaiwa said on the video.

In a recorded interview with KNSD, Michael Rodriguez, who claimed to be 15 to 20 feet away from the shooting, said, “I see a black male coming out with his hands up.”

According to Rodriguez, three officers approached the black male. When the man attempted to run, Rodriguez said they fired five shots into his torso.

But the victim’s sister told KNSD that her brother wasn’t showing his hands to police and wasn’t complying with the police’s orders.

In May, the El Cajon police department announced it would be outfitting its officers with body cameras, but this program has not yet been implemented.

In a tweet, El Cajon police said the video “based on the video voluntarily provided by a witness, the subject did NOT have his hands in the air.”

Witnesses originally reported that police confiscated cellphones from those in the area, which prompted the San Diego ACLU to release a statement which read, in part:

“… by seizing phones, police would likely be preventing the dissemination of video captured by bystanders. The public has the right to film police in public places, and police officers may not confiscate or demand to view your digital photos or video without a warrant. Under no circumstances may police officers delete your photos or videos.”

Police denied the claims in a tweet and later in a press conference, tweeting:

“We ask that the community please be careful about reacting to inaccurate information. No phones were confiscated from anyone at the scene.”

A crowd began gathering in the parking lot of the restaurant on Tuesday afternoon and remained there later in the evening.

Video taken at the scene shows protesters chanting “black lives matter” and “hands up, don’t shoot.”

At some point in the evening, the crowd formed a prayer circle.