Man killed by police had BB gun

San Pablo police shot and killed a 45-year-old man who brandished a BB gun in North Richmond on Wednesday afternoon — not a realistic-looking replica firearm as believed earlier — authorities said Thursday.

Police went to a market at Rumrill Boulevard and Market Street in San Pablo at about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday after the merchant reported a man was in the parking lot loading and unloading what looked to be a gun.

The merchant told police he feared the man was planning to enter his store. Before police arrived, the man left in a pickup truck, police said.

Officers pulled the man over at Truman Street and Market Street in nearby North Richmond, and the man emerged with blood on one hand and what appeared to be a black handgun in the other, police said. He held the gun close to his chest, made a motion as if to load the weapon and turned toward the officers, they said.

Four officers opened fire and the man fell to the ground. Police and paramedics attempted life-saving measures but the man died en route to the hospital.

The man, a San Pablo resident, has not yet been identified, according to the Contra Costa County coroner.

After the shooting, police said they believed that the firearm was a realistic replica handgun, police said. But the state Department of Justice crime lab determined Thursday morning that the weapon was a BB gun.

“What’s significant is that a BB gun can discharge metal pellets and (the state) Department of Justice recognizes it can be used as a deadly weapon,” said San Pablo Police Department Capt. Brian Bubar.

The state Department of Justice, which had been investigating the police shooting because it involved a replica firearm, has turned the investigation over to the Contra Costa District Attorney, the Contra Costa County Sheriff and San Pablo police.