Police fatally shoot man who they say appeared to have a gun; witness believes it was a flashlight

California police shot and killed a man who was carrying what appeared to be a handgun during a standoff Saturday night at a local gas station, authorities said.

Police received a call reporting a man waving a handgun at Del Rosa Avenue and Date Street shortly before 8:30 p.m., the Police Department said in a statement.

When officers arrived, the man was still carrying what appeared to be a black handgun in his hand, police said.

One witness described the object as a flashlight and claimed she had seen the man rummaging in bins prior to the incident.

Patrol officers arrived and located a suspect matching the description, and the suspect was still carrying what appeared to be a black handgun in his hand.

‘An officer-involved shooting occurred and the suspect was struck and was injured,’ the statement said.

The man was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police said he was Hispanic, but the initial report they received described him as white. He was not immediately identified.

Cellphone video taken from a passing car and posted to YouTube captured officers pointing their weapons at a suspect near a gas pump and shouting for him to ‘drop the gun!’.

The vehicle rounds a corner and the camera shot is obstructed as a flurry of shots are heard.

The department posted on its Facebook page several frame grabs from videos at the scene.