After a series of high-profile shootings of unarmed citizens in 2016, another incident has emerged leaving the family of an elderly man suffering from dementia seeking answers.
On Monday, police in Bakersfield, California responded to calls of an armed man walking around their neighborhood early in the morning. According to Yahoo, a witness pointed out the man, 73-year-old Francisco Serna, standing in a neighbor’s driveway. A responding officer fired several shots killing Serna. No gun was found on the scene.
“He don’t own guns or nothing,” said Rogelio Serna, Francisco’s son, in an interview. “He’s a 73-year-old retired father.”
Serna’s family also described the man as suffering from the early stages of dementia, including having delusions, reported Yahoo.
Serna’s other son, Frank, expressed disbelief in the reports that Serna was armed. “The detectives saying he had a gun or waving a gun, or whatever. I don’t know where they got that information from.”
Rogelio Serna lamented that his father didn’t deserve to die like that.
“He was a 73-year-old retired grandpa, just living life,” Serna told the Los Angeles Times, reported Yahoo. “He should have been surrounded by family at old age, not surrounded by bullets.”
According to Reuters, the officer who shot Serna is on administrative leave while the investigation is pending.
