The 28-year-old Kalihi man shot and killed by a deputy sheriff Monday night at the state Capitol was small in stature, disabled and walked with a limp.

Eugene Espejo said both of his brother Delmar’s feet were twisted at birth and that from the knees down, his legs were like poles with “no meat or muscle.” Delmar Espejo underwent two or three surgeries at Shriners Hospital when he was a child, and it was painful for him to stand, Eugene Espejo said.

Delmar Espejo weighed 102 pounds and stood 5 feet 3 inches tall, court records show.

Eugene Espejo said he was told his brother fought with the deputy, although he doesn’t know the full story, but doesn’t think the deputy was justified in using lethal force.

“There’s other ways of taking him down rather than shooting him,” Eugene Espejo said. “He could have used a baton or a Taser. Why did he have to use a gun?”

According to the Department of Public Safety’s top official, the deputy was making his rounds when he encountered a man with an open bottle of alcohol, drinking at the state Capitol courtyard on the Ewa-makai corner.

Public Safety Director Nolan Espinda backed the deputy’s action that ended with Delmar Espejo’s death, saying at a news conference Tuesday that they were involved in an “extreme struggle” initiated by the suspect. Espinda alleged that Espejo had the deputy in a headlock when he shot him.

Eugene Espejo also questioned why the deputy was in such close proximity to a man who was drinking and had a bottle in his hand. He said law enforcement should be more knowledgeable about how to handle such situations.

Espinda declined to provide details on how the encounter transpired or whether the officer called for backup, saying that the matter is under investigation.

Espinda also said the shooting was not recorded by surveillance cameras at the Capitol.

Public Safety officials said the deputy graduated from the department’s training academy and had about two years of experience with the Sheriff Division.

The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office said Delmar Espejo was homeless.

Eugene Espejo said until recently his brother had been living with his mother, her boyfriend and an older brother in the family’s Kalihi home. After a family misunderstanding a month or two ago, Delmar Espejo moved out, but his mother continued to feed him and gave him clothes to wear, Eugene Espejo said.

Delmar Espejo was convicted in 2012 of possessing liquor in a public place, and in 2009 of driving under the influence of an intoxicant. Both offenses are petty misdemeanors.

Monday’s shooting was the first of three officer-involved shootings this week on Oahu, which brings the total this year to four.

It is the fourth deputy sheriff-involved shooting since 2005 , a Public Safety official said in a written response to questions.

The alarming number, just in the second month of 2019, is putting Oahu on a pace to surpass 2018’s 11 officer-involved shootings on Oahu.