LOS ANGELES, Kalifornia - September 17, 2009 - 36-year-old Darrick Collins, shot and killed Monday night, after a Los Angeles County deputy fired several rounds through a fence - two striking him in the back and one in the neck - may have had reason to fear the police that night.

“Collins, the father of two, had been arrested two weeks before on suspicion of drug possession, investigators said,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “On Monday, he was found with 24 tablets made with ecstasy and methamphetamine, officials said.”

But the police had no way of knowing what was in Collins’ pockets. According to the LAPD, Collins and a friend allegedly fit the description of suspects in an armed robbery, but he ran when they tried to detain him for questioning.

“Collins appeared to reach into his waistband for a weapon while fleeing the scene, and a deputy opened fire, sheriff’s Sgt. Diane Hecht said,” according to KTLA.com.

Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca ordered an “expedited” investigation into the killing, while Collins’ family has called for murder charges to be filed against the deputy.

NBC Los Angeles added: “Sheriff’s Department Spokesman Steve Whitmore said that, in having the department quickly examine Monday’s shooting, Baca is not saying that ‘anything was wrong’ with it.”

“He just wants to examine from top to bottom and maybe training has to be refocused,” Whitmore told the network.

“Why would they kill him?” said Kendra Dean, the mother of one of Collins’ children, a 16-month-old boy. “They’re supposed to serve and protect. They ain’t doing that for me. They ain’t doing that for Derrick Collins Senior because they killed him, they shot him down.”