A man shot to death by two police officers was found to have pointed a pistol-grip water nozzle at them rather than a weapon, the police chief said Monday at a news conference marked by sobs from the victim's relatives.
The Long Beach officers were summoned by a 911 report of a man with a gun and fired at him when he pointed the black metal-tipped object at them in a two-handed posture that looked like what a person would do when they are about to shoot a weapon, Chief Jim McDonnell said.
Douglas Zerby, 35, was pronounced dead Sunday afternoon at the scene.
"This is a very unfortunate set of circumstances and leaves the family to deal with it here," McDonnell said, offering his condolences to the Zerby family.
The officers were dispatched to an apartment building at 4:40 p.m. after two people reported a man with a gun sitting on a backyard porch landing, he said.
In an excerpt of a 911 call played for reporters, a male caller said the man appeared to have a "tiny six-shooter."
McDonnell said the officers took positions to observe Zerby, who appeared intoxicated, and believed he had a gun as described by the callers, but focused on setting up containment of the area rather than contacting him.
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The officers requested other officers, a helicopter, a K-9 team and a mental evaluation team, the chief said.
As those units were responding, the man pointed the object at apartments and played with it, causing it to make sounds similar to those of a gun being handled, he said.
"As the subject was in a seated position, he used a two-handed pistol-grip hold on an object with his arms fully extended," McDonnell said.
Zerby pointed it at one of the officers and two officers fired their weapons, a handgun and a shotgun.
The dead man's sister denounced the shooting and said legal action was being considered.
"He never knew there was a problem. Police snuck down the corridor and shot him. He was killed in cold blood. He was a drunk sitting on a stoop fumbling with a hose nozzle," Eden Marie Biele said in an interview with the Associated Press.
She said the police never made verbal or visual contact with Zerby.
"They didn't say 'Put your hands up' or 'Freeze' or anything," Biele said.
Biele said police made the family wait seven hours before confirming that Zerby was the man who had been killed. She said the family had reason to believe it was her brother because the shooting took place at the home of his best friend.
Biele said Zerby had been drinking and rather than drive home, went to his friend's place and was waiting on the stairs for him to come home.
The family is making plans to cremate Zerby, who had an 8-year-old son, and will have a ceremony at the beach, Biele said.
Biele said she did not doubt the sincerity of the chief's condolences, "but the Long Beach Police Department is concerned with one thing only and that is covering up their actions. It's why they didn't release a statement all morning and why it took so long to notify us."
