Witnesses who saw police officers kill a homeless man on LA's skid row yesterday have trashed claims that he was trying to shoot them with one of their own weapons.

Stunned passers-by saw three officers fire at least five shots at the pinned-down man, who was confronted by cops on Skid Row.

It came as more information emerged about the drifter, whom friends say was mentally ill and battling drug addiction.

Referring to him as 'Booth', 'Cameroon' or 'Africa' - references to his home country - fellow Skid Row vagrants say he lived in a tent on the streets and often read the Bible.

Police chiefs have insisted their officers only killed the man because he was trying to snatch an officer's handgun and turn it on him - but the claims didn't wash with people on the scene.

Officers are now compiling more evidence of the incident - including footage from a police body cam.

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Shot dead: A homeless man, circled in red, was gunned down by the Los Angeles Police Department yesterday. Above is the moment directly after the fatal scuffle, after police had backed away

Killing: This is the moment police fired shots at the homeless man, who is obscured from view in the above frame by an officer. The LAPD have claimed he was trying to take an officer's gun

At least one officer was wearing a recording device during the encounter, and surveillance cameras were also overlooking the street. More witnesses are also thought to have filmed the killing on their cell phones.

LAPD officials say the man was wanted in connection with a robbery, and started brawling with officers who approached him.

However, witnesses have characterized the police response as overly aggressive, and say they should have been able to restrain a mentally-ill homeless man with non-lethal means.

Shocking video footage shows the man, who was apparently known in the area as 'Africa', lashing out at police, who force him to the ground.

Police first tried to use a Taser on the floored man, but officers say it had no effect. After the stun gun is fired, an officer can be heard shouting 'Drop the gun! Drop the gun!'.

Seconds later, five gunshots are heard in quick succession. The footage does not show the scuffle clearly. Outraged crowds soon gathered at the scene, accusing the police of unjustly killing him.

A police statement on the killing said that 'the suspect and officers struggled over one of the officer's handguns' before shots were fired.

But crowds of people who were watching gave a different interpretation of the chaotic encounter.

One was Dennis Horne who told NBC's Today program he has his own footage of the incident.

When asked whether the man reached for a policeman's gun, he said: 'My footage don't say that, my eyes didn't see that.'

Yolanda Young, another bystander, said: 'He didn't bother nobody, he didn't have no weapon, they just shot him.'

Jerome Guillory, who also saw the attack, said: 'There was no reason to do that to him, the guy, he wasn't no threat to them.'

Another witness, Lonnie Franklin, 53, did not comment on whether the man was trying to shoot back, but said the police's use of force was excessive.

Fight: At the beginning of the encounter, the man is seen taking swings at several police officers on Skid Row

Confronted: He was being confronted over reports of a robbery before five shots were fired

He told the LA Times: 'That man never was a threat - the amount of officers present at the time could have subdued him.'

Daily Mail Online spoke with a close friend of Africa on Monday, who said the man moved to LA sixth months ago, and had a combination of mental illness and drug addiction problems.

Nick ‘KB’ Gee said the man’s real first name is Booth, but people called him ‘Africa’ because he was originally from Cameroon.

‘Booth was trying to get back home to Africa but he didn’t have no money, that’s why he was homeless,’ Gee said.

‘‘I talked to him a lot of days, he was a very respectful, honest man. He didn’t bother nobody, he would sit in his tent reading his Bible.

‘He told me about his family and he said he had to go back home to take care of some things.’

‘He don’t have nobody out here so I would come down and help him out, get him food, some money, a cigarette,’ he said.

Nick said police had responded not because of a robbery but because Booth was arguing with a neighbor who lived in a tent next to his.

‘A lot of guys who know him would have helped calm him down, the police know the man, they talk to him everyday, ask him to take his tent down,’ he said.

Friend: Nick Gee spoke to Daily Mail Online about the man who was shot dead

Tributes: Flowers were left by the man's Skid Row tent Monday as people attacked the LAPD for the killing

‘You’re dealing with a guy with a combination of mental illness and drug addiction, they used over excessive force.

‘They Tasered him and he was scared and tried to run in to the tent, they dragged him out and instead of five cops holding him down they shot him.’

One homeless man who identified by his nickname ‘Juju’ said he was friends with Africa, whom he said he last saw no more than 30 minutes before the shooting.

He told the LA Times that he was also was also known as ‘Cameroon,’ for his home country. Juju said they had been chatting about politics the last time they spoke.

‘They did not have to kill my friend,’ Juju said.

He said his fellow homeless friend’s problems with police were nothing new.

There were arguments most days between Africa and LAPD officers over taking down his tent, Juju said.

In memoriam: This carboard plaque pays tribute to the man, known as Cameroon or Africa by locals

‘He would say, “Ticket me. Give me my day in court,”’ he said.

But despite his run-ins with the law, Juju said Africa was a generally peaceful man.

‘He was generous,’ he told the LA Times. ‘He lived in a tent, but he was content.’

The LAPD has its own investigation into the killing, which will 'determine whether the use of deadly force was consistent with Department policies and procedures'.

LA County's district attorney's office will also conduct its own probe.

Last night, LAPD spokesman Andy Smith insisted that the shots only came after the struggle over a firearm.

He told reporters: 'During the attempt to detain him, this individual resisted our officers. Theys struggled with him, they tried to tase him a couple of times.'

'That was ineffective and eventually the struggle occurred where the officers that were struggling with the individual over one of the officer's weapons.

Police have not formally identified the man they killed. A spokesman told DailyMail.com that no more information would be released Monday, and that any body cam footage would be held back until after the LAPD's own investigation was over.