A Seaside man fatally shot by police earlier this week after authorities say he refused orders to drop two antique guns had the pistols holstered when he was killed, according to the man's neighbor.

Cashus Case, 44, was only wearing jeans and shoes when he was shot Tuesday in the RV park where he's lived for about a year near Avenue P and U.S. 101, said Michaela Wilson.

She said she was talking with Case, who is known in the area as Deano, and her boyfriend just before two Seaside police officers arrived. Case had his two black powder pistols holstered throughout their talk and when she went inside her mobile home to brush her teeth.

Wilson said she was still inside when she heard yelling and couldn't quite make what was being said. She then heard five gunshots.

She said she saw one Seaside police officer holding what appeared to be a rifle, another holding a handgun and Case lying on his back on gravel with his guns still in their holsters.

"It all happened so fast. I heard yelling briefly and then gunshots right after each other," said Wilson, 52. "He wasn't a violent person. He was clean and sober. I kept thinking he would get up, but he never did."

The two officers involved in the shooting have not yet been identified by the Clatsop County officials. Both have been placed on paid administrative leave as an investigation of the shooting continues. Case is one of 12 people who have been killed by police in Oregon this year.

The county district attorney's office said officers were responding to a report around 1:35 p.m. that Case was waving around the two pistols, and witnesses said he was upset because a dog had bitten someone else at the RV park. At least one of the officers later fired at Case when he didn't comply with their orders regarding the pistols, the district attorney's office said.

Wilson said her friend had been attacked by another resident's three dogs about an hour before the officers arrived. It was Case, who lived two mobile homes down, who heard the man's yells for help and punched and kicked the canines to get them away.

Wilson said she took her injured friend to the hospital and returned to the RV park, where Case was upset about the possibility that the dogs could attack children next.

"She better take care of those dogs tonight, or I will," Case said, according to Wilson. She said police responded after the attack and took one of the dogs away. She said she later learned that officers were called a second time by the dogs' owner, who was concerned about the safety of her pets.

Wilson said she didn't know how it escalated to Case being shot.

Case had a young daughter, she said, and worked as a gas station attendant in town. Wilson described him as a generous, loyal and "big ole goofy guy" who loved motorcycles. She said his dream was to one day build and sell custom motorcycles.

He'd been arrested in the past, she said, but he appeared to have turned his life around. His criminal history includes a January 2012 conviction for felony delivery of a controlled substance in Idaho, court records show.

The Clatsop County District Attorney's Office said that conviction barred him from possessing firearms.

"A lot of us have been arrested here and there, but that doesn't make you a bad person," Wilson said. "He wasn't some hardened, drug-crazed criminal. He didn't need to die."

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com

503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey