FRESNO, Calif. (KMPH) -
Neighbors watch as Fresno police open fire on a man with a shotgun - and kill him.
Witnesses describe it as "suicide-by-cop".
Six Fresno police officers fired at least 20 rounds at the man, who was standing in the driveway of his northeast Fresno home, near Millbrook and Browning.
"I was here earlier when the first cop showed up and he fired a shotgun round," said Perry Bennett, who saw the shooting unfold.
Neighbors describe the young man's final moments, holding a pistol-grip shotgun, surrounded by half a dozen officers.
"They must've asked him 100 times to drop it, he just wouldn't do it," said Tony Schutz, who lives across the street.
"They pleaded with him, they asked him please, life is not worth this, they went through the standard negotiation tactic to talk him down, but he just wasn't going for it," said Bennett.
Bennett says the man, who was in his 20s, looked depressed.
"There was silence before the shooting started, something he did, he was moving his shoulders and his head around and moved, then I heard the gunshots. He was lifting his gun is what I assumed," said Bennett.
Police say the man pointed the gun at them, that's when six officers pulled their triggers.
"Suicide by cop, that's exactly what it was. Didn't offer a threat to anybody but the officers," said Bennett.
Eric Marcellini lived with the man.
He didn't want to release his name but says his roommate seemed like a typical student.
"He had friends, he had friends over sometimes, he didn't seem like something out of the ordinary at all," said Marcellini.
Marcellini says his roommate had a military background.
A service member stopped by the home and collected what looked like military gear.
Police are still piecing together how the man ended up in front of the house with the shotgun.
"He was passive. He stood on the porch passively for 5 to10 minutes while they tried to talk to him. He was ready to die, he was," said Bennett.
No officers were hurt during the shooting.
This marks the 8th officer involved shooting in Fresno this year.
