(KRON) –A Bakersfield police officer has been placed on administrative leave, after fatally shooting a 73-year-old man with dementia who was holding a crucifix, authorities said.
According to authorities, police responded to a report of a man with a revolver acting strangely.
Francisco Serna was shot after he failed to respond to officers orders to stop approaching and to remove his hands from his jacket.
Regan Selman, one of the seven officers who responded to the call, fired seven shots at Serna who died at the scene.
Police did not find a gun on Serna, but a police statement said a dark-colored simulated wood crucifix was found on him.
Eight detectives are now looking into the shooting and all seven officers are now on leave, according to Bakersfield Assistant Police Chief Lyle Martin.
“BDP murdered my father for no reason,” daughter Laura Serna told CNN affiliate KERO.
The phone call made to the police was from people who lived across the street from Serna. A woman told detectives that a man approached her in her driveway and that she saw a dark brown or black handle of a gun.She went inside her home and told her husband to call the police. He told the operator that the man had a revolver.
When the police arrived six minutes later, the woman identified Serna coming out of his house, and shots were fired about 15 to 20 feet in front of Officer Selman who has been with the police department since 2015.
CNN affiliates said Serna’s family told them he had dementia and alerted the police department as well.
CNN newssource help contributed to this article.