BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — A Bakersfield police officer answering a report of a man with a gun shot and killed an unarmed 73-year-old as he stood in a neighbor's driveway, authorities said. The man's family said he was in the early stages of dementia. 
 
 Francisco Serna was declared dead at the scene about 1:15 a.m. Monday, the Kern County coroner said in a statement. 
 
 Police had arrived about 12:30 a.m., and when a witness pointed to Serna, one officer fired several rounds and killed him, Bakersfield police spokesman Sgt. Gary Carruesco tells KBAK-TV and the Los Angeles Times. 
 
 No gun was turned up in a search of the scene, Carruesco said. 
 
 Serna's son said his father had worked at a cotton gin in California's Central Valley until retiring about a dozen years ago. 
 
 "My dad did not own a gun. He was a 73-year-old retired grandpa, just living life," Rogelio Serna told the Times. "He should have been surrounded by family at old age, not surrounded by bullets." 
 
 Rogelio Serna said his father had been suffering from delusions and other early signs of dementia that had appeared to be getting worse in the past month. His father often took late-night walks alone to tire himself out, he said. 
 
 Police had visited the house twice before because his confused father activated a medical alarm, Rogelio Serna said. 
 
 The coroner said an autopsy would be performed on Francisco Serna. ||||| The 73-year-old California man with dementia who was shot dead by police Monday may have been waving a wooden crucifix that was mistaken for a weapon, his family said. 
 
 Francisco Serna was in the early stages of dementia and had recently begun carrying around a crucifix that was about 6 inches long and waving it at people, according to one of his daughters, Laura Serna. 
 
 “There were moments where he thought he was going to die of old age,” his daughter told TIME on Tuesday. “He was just carrying that around. I don’t know if it was like for his security. They could have mistaken that for a weapon.” 
 
 Francisco Serna was out for a brisk walk at about 12:30 a.m. when a Bakersfield police officer opened fire while responding to a report of an armed man, authorities and the man’s relatives said. 
 
 Authorities said Serna was unarmed when he was shot and killed. Serna's family believe he had the crucifix with him at the time; they have not found it in the house since his death. 
 
 Bakersfield police did not comment on whether a crucifix was found with Serna at the time of the shooting. Sgt. Gary Carruesco, a police department spokesman, said in a statement that officers were responding to a report of a man “brandishing a handgun.” One officer shot Serna several times in a neighbor’s driveway after a witness pointed to him and has since been placed on routine administrative leave. 
 
 Laura Serna, 47, who lives with her parents, said her father was not heavily religious but that he was sentimental. Last week, he started bringing the crucifix around with him while he was reminiscing about loved ones who have died. The wooden crucifix was among many that had been inside his house for years. “That’s just the one he chose to carry,” Laura Serna said. 
 
 The shooting left Serna's family reeling with pain and anger at the loss of a man whom they remembered as a “hero." 
 
 One of Francisco Serna’s sons, Rogelio Serna, told TIME that his father liked taking short walks at night to cope with his dementia and tire himself out before bed. “He took his last walk,” said Rogelio Serna, who mourned his father as a loving family man who raised his five children to live life without violence. “He was my hero. We’re still in shock and we want to get answers. We just want to get answers.” 
 
 Laura Serna said she was sleeping when she was jolted awake by the sound of gunshots. “Less than five minutes later, my mom was knocking on the bedroom door, saying ‘Something is happening. Something happened to your dad.’ I got downstairs and went outside, and my dad was laying in the driveway across the street dead and bloody,” she recalled. “There was no explanation.” 
 
 Photo courtesy Rogelio Serna 
 
 Laura Serna said her parents were watching television when her mother left the room to wash another load of laundry. When she returned, her husband was missing and the front door was cracked open. “She went outside and she called him, ‘Francisco!’ And he did not respond. But she did notice that his body was across the street,” his daughter said. “He was slumped over and bloodied.” 
 
 “I said, ‘That is my father! Is he injured?’ An officer pushed us and said we needed to leave—that we’re in a crime scene,” she said. “It was horrible. I could not believe it. I could not believe what was going on.” 
 
 Francisco Serna, who had more than a dozen grandchildren and a handful of great-grandchildren, was diagnosed with dementia in July 2015 and had been taking medication for it, his children said. He was living with his wife and daughter, Laura. 
 
 Rogelio Serna, 41, said his father was a “mentor” to his children and had raised a tight-knit family. “He had time for all of us,” the younger Serna said. “We’re of course angry and upset. We just want answers. We do not tolerate violence. We were not raised that way,” he said. 
 
 “We’re going to miss him dearly,” the son added. “He was at the age where he was getting sick. He should have passed away surrounded by family, not surrounded by police and bullets.” ||||| UPDATE (Dec. 15, 2016 4:55 p.m.): According to the autopsy, five of the seven bullets fired by Officer Selman hit Francisco Serna. At least one bullet went through Serna. Three hit a neighbor's home. 
 
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 UPDATE (Dec. 14, 2016 4:30 p.m.): The cause of death of Frank Serna was multiple gunshot wounds, and the manner of death was a homicide, according to KCSO. 
 
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 UPDATE (Dec. 14, 2016, 11:09 a.m.): According to the Bakersfield Police Department, 73-year-old Francisco Serna had a dark-colored simulated woodgrain crucifix between his shirt and jacket when he was shot. The object was not found in his hand. 
 
 BPD officers were not wearing body cameras and there is no dashcam footage of the shooting. According to ABC News, there were at least seven shots fired. It is unclear how many times Serna was actually hit. 
 
 The 73-year-old was suffering from early stages of dementia and leaves behind five children, 16 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. 
 
 The family claimed that Serna was lying naked in the driveway. The man was completely clothed and covered in a yellow tarp until crime lab photographer arrived to take pictures. 
 
 The coroner's officer showed up and cut the man's clothes off to search him, according to the family. 
 
 An autopsy was being performed Wednesday. 
 
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 UPDATE (Dec. 13, 2016, 10:52 a.m.): According to Bakersfield police, no gun was found at the scene and Sergeant Gary Carruesco does not know what - or if - 73-year-old Francisco Serna was holding anything when he was shot by a BPD officer. 
 
 Sgt. Carruesco shared that even if officers are aware ahead of time that someone at the residence has a history of a mental disease, they do not approach the scene any differently. Whatever Serna was doing that was threatening has not yet been determined. 
 
 Information about whether non-lethal force was administered will be released later today. 
 
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 UPDATE (Dec. 12, 2016, 6:15 p.m.): No gun was found at the scene, according to BPD. 
 
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 A man is dead after he was shot and killed by Bakersfield Police early Monday morning in Southwest Bakersfield. 
 
 According to police, the man, who has been identified by family as 73-year-old Francisco Serna, was brandishing a gun at around 12:30 a.m. in the area of Silver Birch Avenue and Alderpointe Street. 
 
 After making contact with Serna, police say an officer fired several shots, hitting and killing him. It's not known how many shots were fired. Family say eight shots were fired. 
 
 Family says Serna had been suffering from the early stages of dementia and had police called to his home several times without incident. 
 
 Family members also say Serna did not own a gun. Bakersfield Police say they are searching the scene for the gun that Serna was allegedly brandishing. 
 
 No officers were hurt.
– Family members are demanding answers after they say a police officer fatally shot an unarmed 73-year-old man with dementia in Bakersfield, Calif., on Monday. Authorities say they were responding to a call about a man brandishing a gun outside a home around 12:30am when a witness on the scene pointed to Francisco Serna, standing in a neighbor's driveway, reports the Los Angeles Times. Police say an officer opened fire after Serna failed to comply with requests, per KGET; family members tell KERO that eight shots were fired. Serna was pronounced dead at 1:15am, per the AP, but investigators say a search turned up no gun. "My dad did not own a gun," says Serna's son. "He was a 73-year-old retired grandpa, just living life." Rogelio Serna adds his father had been showing signs of dementia since last year and police had previously visited his home—on the same block where the shooting occurred—at least twice when a disoriented Serna activated a medical alarm. His condition appeared to have worsened in the last month, Rogelio Serna says. His father had difficulty sleeping and sometimes walked late at night to fatigue himself before bed. "He should have been surrounded by family at old age, not surrounded by bullets," his son says.