UPDATED: Manteca Police confirmed that the man shot and killed by an officer Wednesday in the 200 block of Flores Avenue had a weapon but it was not a gun as some witnesses contended.

A man who witnesses said pulled a gun on a Manteca Police officer in a residential neighborhood at about 6:45 p.m. Wednesday was shot and killed by the patrolman in the front yard of a home in the 200 block of Flores Avenue.

A Manteca Police spokesman said the 34-year-old Hispanic male adult died from his injuries just a block away from Doctors Hospital.   The driver of the pickup reportedly lived at the residence and was detained by officers but later released without charges.

One juvenile, two male adults and one female adult were also initially detained by officers at the scene.  They were all released within 20 minutes after the scene was under control with officers not knowing if they were in danger from someone in the house.

Police said the officer – a 10-year veteran – spotted a suspicious pickup truck and attempted to make a traffic stop when it pulled up to a house on Flores Avenue next to a large fir tree with two occupants inside.  When the officer pulled up to the curb to investigate, a passenger bailed out of the truck cab and advanced toward the officer, a witness said.

Witnesses also reported hearing as many as nine shots ring out as the man fell to the ground near the back of the truck.  Firefighters arrived and performed chest compressions on the suspect for some 10 minutes before placing him on a back board and taking him on a gurney to a waiting ambulance.

Residents came out of their homes and filled the sidewalks along North Street and down Flores Avenue watching the police and paramedic activity in their neighborhood.

Neighbors reported continually having seen people coming in and out of the Flores Avenue residence in recent weeks and believed there was some type of a chop shop activity going on in the house – something police could not confirm.  They also said they suspected the house was occupied by a number of illegal aliens.

Police units from all over the city responded to the scene along with two officers each from the Sheriff’s Department and the Ripon Police Department after they got the call of an officer-involved shooting.

The street was closed down from North Street to half a block to the south.

The investigation at the shooting scene was continuing beyond 11 p.m. last night as five police vehicles remained parked in the street in front of the residence where a command post had been set up.  Flood lights illuminated the street and the front yard of the house.

The San Joaquin County District attorney will be leading the investigation into the shooting, police said.  As is customary the officer involved in the shooting was placed on a three-day administrative leave.