Police Kill Man Who Brandishes Fake Gun : LAPD: Officers responding to 911 call near Lincoln Park say victim appeared to draw a .38-caliber revolver. It turned out to be made of plastic. Councilman visits the scene after some witnesses protest shooting.

A bare-chested man brandishing a toy gun on a street corner near Lincoln Park was shot and killed Thursday afternoon after a confrontation with Los Angeles police, authorities said.

The man, whose identity was not immediately released, was shot shortly after 4:30 p.m. in the 3300 block of North Mission Road, said Los Angeles Police Capt. Bruce Hagerty.

Hagerty said police had been called to the neighborhood by residents who dialed 911 to report that the man was on the sidewalk brandishing a gun.

When officers arrived, the man was standing at the corner and officers ordered him to get down, Hagerty said. Instead, he said, the man reached behind his back into the rear waistband of his pants and pulled out what appeared to be a blue-steel, .38-caliber revolver.

One of the officers, Hagerty said, “could clearly see the man’s hand on the gun and fired.” The officer, whom he would not identify, fired three rounds, he said, shooting the man in the upper torso.

Upon investigation, police discovered that the gun was not real, but “a very realistic replica” made out of plastic, Hagerty said.

The shooting brought complaints from witnesses who protested the police response, Hagerty said, and City Councilman Richard Alatorre went to the scene to investigate.

“There are people who have a different point of view as to what happened,” Alatorre said, without elaborating.

Hagerty, however, said that except for two people, the crowd that gathered around the scene of the incident was generally peaceful and “just curious.”

He added detectives were not immediately able to discern why the man was waving the toy pistol.

“We’re investigating to find out exactly what he was doing,” Hagerty said. “Obviously, he concerned somebody because they called 911.”