SENSELESS

Police Kill Unarmed Man Holding Crucifix

He was 73 years old and fighting dementia.

A California man believed to be armed was found to be carrying just a wooden crucifix after police shot him dead early Monday morning, according to local media reports. Bakersfield Assistant Police Chief Lyle Martin said officers responded to a report of a man acting strangely. Officers had been told that he was holding a revolver. When they arrived, Francisco Serna, a 73-year-old who was struggling with dementia, allegedly failed to respond to orders that he stop walking toward them and take his hands out of his jacket pocket. Seven officers responded to the scene, and one of those officers, identified as Reagan Selman, fired seven shots at Serna, CNN reports. Serna died at the scene. He was unarmed, officers later learned he was carrying the religious object. His daughter, Laura Serna, told a local CNN affiliate that police “murdered my father for no reason.” Martin told reporters, “This is a tragic incident for their family, for the community as a whole, and for the police department.”