Police shoot a man holding a big stick in Red Bluff, California

• An unidentified man brandishing a "big stick" was shot by a police officer around midnight Sunday in Red Bluff, California, according to the local police department.
• Police said the police ordered the man to drop the stick and used a taser and a bag of beans before the man attempted to attack the police at bat.
• Corporal Stephen Harper fired a shot and the man was pronounced dead at the nearby hospital.
• Harper was put on paid administrative leave while the Tehama County Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation.
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An unidentified man was shot dead by a Californian police officer Sunday after trying to attack the police with a big stick, according to the Red Bluff Police Department.

In a statement, police said that police saw a man holding what was described as a "big stick" shortly after midnight and asked him to drop him, but he refused and continued to remove. The police followed him on foot and used a taser and a bag of beans to try to put him in custody. The man then approached the agents brandishing the staff.

Corporal Stephen Harper fired a shot and hit the upper body of the man. The man was declared dead at a local hospital.

Harper has 15 years of law enforcement experience and has been with the Red Bluff Police for approximately three and a half years. He was put on administrative leave while the Tehama County Prosecutor's Office opens an investigation into the incident. The police department also conducts its own internal investigation.

Police tactics have been scrutinized in recent years in a number of highly publicized cases in which unarmed blacks were shot dead by police officers. Earlier this year, 26-year-old Jemel Roberson was shot dead while he was trying to locate a suspect who allegedly opened fire in the Manny's Blue Room Lounge, in a Chicago suburb. and the Sacramento police have announced that two police officers would not face charges for the fatal murder of Stephon Clark, an unarmed black man.

According to the Washington Post police shootings database, 265 people were shot dead by police this year.