An officer from the Hemet Police Department shot and killed a man in his backyard on Tuesday.
Officers were investigating a reported theft in the 800 block of South Harvard Street a few minutes after 10 a.m. when they “encountered an armed male in an adjacent backyard,” police said in a news release.
Officers opened fire on the man, who was a neighbor of the home where the investigation was taking place, said police, who added that the man was unrelated to the theft.
He was pronounced dead at a local hospital. No officers were injured.
The officer who killed the man has been placed on administrative leave. They have not been identified.
The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to call the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.