Redding police Sgt. Jon Poletski, center, and others, investigate the scene where Redding police fatally shot a man Tuesday night.

SHARE The scene at an apartment complex on Boulder Creek Drive where Redding police fatally shot a man Tuesday night. A Redding police crime scene investigator takes pictures on Wednesday at the scene at an apartment complex on Boulder Creek Drive where Redding police fatally shot a man Tuesday night. Investigators hold a piece of a tree they cut off that contains a bullet strike. Redding police Sgt. Jon Poletski said they were collecting the sample for evidence but weren’t sure whose bullet struck it. Related Photos Police kill man in shooting at Redding apartment

By Damon Arthur of the Redding Record Searchlight

Law enforcement on Wednesday continued to investigate the police shooting of a man at a Redding apartment complex Tuesday night.

The case was turned over to the Shasta County Sheriff's Office because the man was shot by Redding police officers. The California Highway Patrol's Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team also assisted with the investigation.

While deputies investigated what led police to shoot the man at his apartment on Boulder Creek Drive just north of Lake Boulevard, neighbors in the area said they were trying to return to their daily lives.

"Everybody's talking about it, but it seems like everything is back to normal — except the people driving by and looking," said Chad Riggins, who lives in an apartment near where the shooting occurred.

Several neighbors said Wednesday they did not know the man and that he kept to himself. A search warrant affidavit posted to the apartment's front door identified a resident living there. The Record Searchlight is not releasing the name until the coroner has notified next of kin.

There was also a letter from the National Rifle Association posted to the front window and addressed to the same person on the search warrant affidavit.

The letter requested that the resident pay for a DVD that he received titled "Combat Shooting and Home Defense Tips." On the window sill of the apartment there were boxes of 9 mm pistol shells and several bullets on another window sill near the kitchen.

Scattered kitchen utensils littered the patio in front of the apartment blocked by crime scene tape. The apartment building was riddled with bullet holes, and one bullet was lodged in a tree.

Police said they were called to an apartment in the 200 block of Boulder Creek Drive at about 5:45 p.m. Tuesday. A man was reportedly shooting a gun outside his apartment, Redding police Lt. Pete Brindley said Tuesday night.

The man, whose name is not being released until all of his family have been notified, was described as a white male adult in his 50s.

A news release from the Shasta County Sheriff's Office said there were six to eight shots fired before police arrived on scene.

Witnesses said the man was yelling about President Obama and had fired numerous rounds from a gun.

"Witnesses on scene later advised detectives that the suspect was upset about the recent legislation regarding gun laws issued by President Obama," a news release from sheriff's Sgt. Brian Jackson said.

When police arrived they surrounded the apartment where the man was staying and attempted to negotiate with him, Brindley said. The man went in and out of his apartment 10 to 15 times, Brindley said.

"He made several statements that he was in fact armed," Brindley said.

The last time he came out of his apartment, several officers fired numerous rounds at him, Brindley said.

Before shooting and killing the man, officers also tried to subdue him with a police dog and by shooting beanbag rounds at him, sheriff's deputies said.

Brindley said he didn't know how many rounds were fired. The Sheriff's Office said nine officers shot at the man, striking him multiple times. He was declared dead at the scene. An autopsy will be conducted next week, Jackson said.

None of the officers were injured and they have been placed on administrative leave, which is typical department policy after an officer-involved shooting, Brindley said.

Jason Crawford, whose apartment faces where the man lived, said he took video of the shooting. The video shows officers setting up around the man's door and attempting to communicate with him.

At the end of the video the man emerges from the front door of his apartment with what looks like a gun in his outstretched hand. Officers then fired on him, Brindley said.

The Sheriff's Office has confiscated the man's video, Jackson's statement said. The footage will not be released to the public, officials said.

Neighbor Riggins said he estimated officers fired 30 or 40 rounds, but another neighbor, Steven Killion, estimated he heard about 70 shots.

"It was insane," Killion said.

Sheriff's officials said they have not confirmed whether the man fired at officers. But inside the apartment they found a 9 mm Beretta handgun with a spent shell casing in the chamber and live rounds in the gun's magazine.

When asked why officers fired their guns at the man, Brindley said officers "believed that their life was in danger, and that's what we're investigating at this point, to determine exactly what the facts of the case are and that's what the Sheriff's Office is currently investigating."

The man listed on the warrant posted on the apartment's door on Wednesday may not have been able to legally own firearms because he had a felony conviction.

According to electronic Superior Court records, the man pleaded no-contest in 2009 to the illegal discharge of a weapon, a felony, and was sentenced to 60 days in jail.

But he was later sentenced in 2010 to an additional 45 days in jail for violating probation, according to court records.

A review of his criminal history also shows that the man, not including a few traffic tickets, had a 2004 misdemeanor battery count against him dismissed after being placed on District Attorney's probation.

Additionally, he pleaded no-contest in 2010 to petty theft in connection with an apparent theft at Shopko.

He was ordered to spend one day in jail in connection with that offense.

Pamela Minor of Redding, who said she has known the man for about 22 years, said all of those incidents and arrests were due to mental health issues he has had for decades.

Minor said the man had suffered from depression, anger and bouts of confusion for many years and it sometimes got him into trouble.

— Reporter Jim Schultz contributed to this story.