Melanie Eversley

USA TODAY

Police in Bakersfield, Calif., found a crucifix on an unarmed 73-year-old retiree with dementia shot dead by an officer, after police said the man ignored their requests to remove his hands from his jacket.

An officer fired seven rounds into Francisco Serna early Monday morning after a neighbor contacted police and said Serna brandished a gun at his wife and wife's friend.

"During a search of Mr. Serna a dark-colored simulated woodgrain crucifix was recovered," read a statement from the Bakersfield Police Department. "Mr. Serna was not armed at the time of the shooting. No firearm has been recovered."

The department identified the officer who fired the shots as Police Officer Reagan Selman, who has been with the department since July 2015. Selman and six other officers who were on the scene have been placed on administrative leave, according to the statement. This is Selman's first officer-involved shooting, the statement said.

Serna has never carried a gun and was opposed to firearms, Serna's son, Frank Serna, told KGET. "I don't know what led police to believe he had a gun," Frank Serna said.

Police said the events unfolded about 12:35 a.m. Monday. A neighbor arrived home as a passenger in a friend's car and as she exited the car, she noticed Serna standing behind her with his right hand "concealed inside his jacket," the police statement read.

The neighbor told police that Serna "began questioning her about living in the neighborhood and demanded she open the car door so he could look inside."

The neighbor told police she saw "a dark brown or black handled object that she believed was a gun" inside Serna's jacket.

The neighbor's friend unlocked her car door and Serna began looking inside the car. At that point, the neighbor ran to her house and told her husband to call the police because there was a man outside with a gun, police said.

The neighbor's husband called 911 and reported "there was a man outside of his house in possession of a revolver and that the man had brandished the gun at the women outside."

Selman and several more officers arrived on the scene, and while talking to the woman, saw Serna come out of his house across the street and walk toward them with both hands "concealed inside of his jacket."

Several officers ordered Serna to stop and show his hands, but he did not, according to police.

"As Mr. Serna was about 15-20 feet from Officer Selman, Officer Selman fired seven rounds at Mr. Serna," according to the police statement.

Serna dropped to the ground in the neighbor's driveway. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

Serna's family said he often took walks at night because sometimes he could not sleep and the walking helped make him tired.

The Chicago-based Alzheimer's Association, which offers support for patients and families dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia, declined to comment specifically on the case but did say that dementia patients can be prone to wandering, or might get confused while they are out for a walk. It can happen at any stage of the ailment, said Beth Kallmyer, the association's vice president of constituent services. Dementia patients also might become agitated at night, she said.

"What can happen when somebody is out and about, they might be in an area they know, but because of the Alzheimer's dementia, they might get confused about where they're at," Kallmyer said. "One of the things that is important for families ... is to get educated about some of these things that can happen with wandering and have a plan in place to help with that."

The Alzheimer's Association maintains a 24-hour, seven-day hotline for people with questions about Alzheimer's and dementia at 1-800-272-3900.

The Bakersfield Police Department Critical Incident Review Board is investigating the incident, police said.

A study published last year by a project called Mapping Police Violence rated Bakersfield's Police Department as the deadliest in the country, logging 13.6 killings for every million people. The United States average is 3.6, according to the project.

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