Anaheim cop shot man in self-defense, police union says

After four days of protests over the fatal police shooting of an unarmed man, the Anaheim police union issued a statement saying that the officer had fired in self-defense.

The union's statement offered the first detailed explanation of Saturday's fatal shooting of Manual Diaz, which has prompted four days of protests amid allegations of police brutality and racial profiling.

According to the union, officers in an alleyway near  Anna Drive got out of a police car to talk to Diaz and some other men, when one of the officers saw “the documented gang member” holding a “concealed object in his front waist band with both hands.”

Diaz then began running and pulled the object from his waistband and turned toward the officers, the union said.

At that point, "the officer opened fire on Diaz to stop the threat,” said Kerry Condon, the union president.

Anaheim police said that no gun has been recovered.

Also on Tuesday, Diaz's relatives filed a civil-rights and wrongful-death lawsuit against the Anaheim Police Department and city alleging that he was fired upon from behind and shot in the back of the head.

The FBI also announced that it would review Saturday's shooting to see if it warranted a civil rights investigation after Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait called for state and federal investigations in addition to the probe by the Orange County district attorney.

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--Richard Winton and Christine Mai-Duc