UPDATE:

Community: A community protest is planned for noon in front of the Anaheim police station, according to local community organizer Theresa Smith. “(The Anaheim police) are not judge, jury and executioner. Nobody is given their due process and it just seems like everything has gotten out of hand.”

Police: As of 8 a.m., Anaheim Police Sgt. Bob Dunn said he did not have any new information. Specifically, he did not release the name of the person killed in the officer-involved shooting and he did not have information on how many people were arrested in the melee.

It was quiet this morning at the scene of Saturday’s melee.

ANAHEIM Officers shot bean bags and pepper balls at a crowd of about 100 people – some throwing rocks and bottles – angered by an earlier police shooting that killed a man blocks away.

The melee ensued hours after a police officer shot a man he was chasing down an alley in the 600 block of North Anna Drive, Anaheim Police Sgt. Bob Dunn said.

About 4 p.m., officers chased three men for unknown reasons and caught up to one of them in front of an apartment complex in the 700 block of North Anna, Dunn reported.

“At that time the officer-involved shooting occurred,” he said.

Neighbors and friends, however, demanded answers, asking for Anaheim Police Chief John Welter to show up and address the crowd.

“We were all waiting for him to come and talk to the community and give us an explanation. Why kill this man?” said Yesenia Rojas, a 34-year-old woman who lives in the neighborhood and said she knew the man as a good person.

Dunn said the officers shot the bean bags and pepper balls because the crowd was getting too close to the officers who were trying to detain a person suspected of being with a group that attempted to throw a bottle or rock at police.

It’s unclear whether the officers gave any warning before they used the ‘less-than-lethal’ force on the crowd.

Rojas said she was hit, pointing to a red and purple welt on the side of her stomach.

Daisy Gonzalez, 16, identified her uncle as the man shot by police .She and others said his name was Manuel Diaz. She said he likely ran away from officers when they approached him because of his past experience with law enforcement.

“He (doesn’t) like cops. He never liked them because all they do is harass and arrest anyone,” Gonzalez said after lighting a candle for her uncle.

She cursed at the police who were nearby and a police helicopter that hovered above, flashing a spotlight on the neighborhood.

Throughout the night, police in multiple marked and unmarked squad cars attempted to control an unruly crowd gathered near the shooting scene. Some cordoned off the intersection at East La Palma Avenue and Anna Drive with the same yellow crime-scene tape used by police where the shooting happened.

Some moved a Dumpster into the intersection and set its trash on fire on at least three separate occasions only to be met with multiple officers who kept responding to move it out of the way of traffic.

About 9:30 p.m., an Anaheim helicopter hovered above the crowd while police on the ground brandished batons and other weapons at the crowd, attempting to keep order.

Some in the crowd said they had inhaled some of the pepper spray during the melee. Joel Hunt, 21, of Fullerton was in the area visiting a friend when the shooting happened. He was part of the crowd, and he said his throat was still burning from the effects of being sprayed.

Rojas said a stroller with her 1-year-old grandson was toppled over and the baby was nearly attacked by a police dog that escaped from its handler. Dunn said a police dog had accidently escaped from a K-9 officer who then tried to regain control of the dog. Dunn said there were injuries related with the escaped dog but he doesn’t know the extent, adding that this incident and melee are under investigation.

Three people were detained after the melee, but their identities were not disclosed. Dunn said it was unclear whether they were arrested.

This shooting is the latest by the Anaheim Police Department, which is under scrutiny for several recent officer-involved shootings.

In Saturday’s shooting, two patrol officers driving down an alley in the 600 block of North Anna Drive about 4 p.m. saw three men standing near a vehicle. The three men ran away when the officers tried to make contact with them, Dunn said.

Dunn would not give any other details about what happened and why the officer shot the man, stating that the details are under investigation.

The man was in critical condition when he was taken to the hospital, where he died at 7 p.m. Dunn said. Nobody else was injured and the two other men got away, he added.

Dunn said gang detectives are involved in the investigation.

Crystal Ventura, a 17-year-old who lives in the neighborhood, said she saw the shooting from about 20 feet away. She said the man had his back to the officer. She said the man was shot in the buttocks area. The man then went down on his knees, and she said he was struck by another bullet in the head. Another officer handcuffed the man who by then was on the ground and not moving, Ventura added.

“They searched his pockets, and there was a hole in his head, and I saw blood on his face,” she said. Dunn said he could not comment on these allegations because the shooting is under investigation.

Police reportedly tried to buy any video taken by witnesses on their cellphones. Dunn said that he didn’t know whether the allegations were true. He said it’s unclear whether it’s against Anaheim Police policy to do so but said that the agency would look into the matter.

In the past, Dunn said, that officers will ask for cellphone video as evidence, but that he doesn’t know of instances where officers would pay for it.

Orange County District Attorney officials are investigating the fatal shooting case, as is normal procedure. Anaheim police will be investigating the melee, Dunn said.

The recent shootings have led family members of those who were killed to hold regular protests in front of police headquarters.

City leaders have agreed to hold independent reviews of recent “major police incidents,” including the officer-involved shootings, by an outside investigator.

Staff writer Sean Emery contributed to this story.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7924 or ccarcamo@ocregister.com