Another black man shot dead by US police

An African-American man has been shot and killed by police in San Diego, California, amid protests over police killings of black people.

The shooting happened on Tuesday afternoon and witnesses said the victim was mentally challenged and unarmed when shot by police.

At around 14:00 local time, gunfire erupted in a parking lot at the Broadway Village Shopping Center in El Cajon, after authorities had received multiple calls about a man who was "not acting like himself."

Upon the arrival of officers at the scene, a black man was frantically pacing back and forth, "not only endangering himself, but motorists," Police Chief Jeff Davis said.

The man was ordered to remove his hand from his front pocket by an officer, who then drew his firearm.

Another officer arrived and sought to Taser the man, but as the officers were preparing to use their electronic devices, the man allegedly pulled out an object from his pocket and put both his hands together in "what appeared to be a shooting stance," Davis said. 

The officers shot their guns striking the man several times. They also hit him with a high-voltage Taser. The man was pronounced dead later in hospital.

Police released a grainy screengrab which apparently shows the victim with his hands on an object as two officers surround him.

Davis said that the screengrab was taken by an onlooker. "That was the only phone provided to officers in this investigation."

Police did not say what the object was that the victim allegedly took out of his pocket.

Eyewitnesses said the victim had his hands above his head when he was shot. However, police asserted, “The investigation just started, but based on the video voluntarily provided by a witness, the subject did NOT have his hands up in the air."

A crying woman seen wearing a nurse's uniform in a Facebook Live broadcast from the scene had originally called the police.

“OK, so the police did it again, y’all,” the Facebook user said in the video. “They shot another unarmed black person, as usual. And the lady is saying she called them for help, not to kill her brother, and they shot her brother.”

The man's sister identified the victim as 30-year-old Alfred Olango.

"I called for help, I didn't call for you guys to kill him!" she screamed. "Oh my God, you killed my brother!"

"Why couldn't you guys Tase him? Why, why, why, why?" she yelled. "Why couldn't you Tase him? I told them he's sick."

The incident caused protests around the scene late Tuesday, with protesters chanting “Black Lives Matter.”

The protest follows similar demonstrations held recently over the police-involved death of African American Keith Lamont Scott on September 20.

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