Scene of the Doug Zerby Shooting, 4:40 p.m.

Countering Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell's account of how Doug Zerby was fatally shot by officers mistaking a pistol-grip hose nozzle for a gun, Zerby's family will give results of their attorney's investigation to the news media Friday morning.

The family announced that they, and their attorney, will offer details of an ongoing investigation by private investigators into the Sunday afternoon shooting of Zerby, 35, who was wounded multiple times in the torso on a friend's Ocean Boulevard apartment stoop.

Zerby, a once-promising swim star at Millikan High who was the divorced father of a son River, 8, was sitting cross-legged on the wooden landing, midway up the stairs leading to a close friend's apartment.

A resident of a house on the shared courtyard called 9-1-1 at 4:40 p.m. Sunday to report a man who sat on the stairway, drunk, fiddling with what appeared to be a gun, possibly "a six shooter."

The chief said that police, concerned that the man would leave the yard armed and possibly harm others, stationed themselves quietly to watch the suspect and await more officers and a mental health team.

But the chief said that Zerby was manipulating what looked to officers like a gun, and before backup arrived, he clutched the handle of the nozzle, arms extended, and pointed it toward one of the officers. Two officers fired eight rounds, McDonnell said, and Zerby was wounded several times in the abdomen. He died outside his dear friend's studio apartment.

At a press conference Monday, the chief called the shooting a terrible tragedy and offered condolences to Zerby's family, members of whom attended the press conference; their emotional comments effectively ended it as the chief offered to answer questions privately with them.

Witnesses have said that Zerby was staggeringly drunk and clutching two beers as he made his way the one-third-mile distance between Domenico's, where he was dropped off at 2 p.m., and friend Doug Blair's apartment.

Key disputes about the case include: the amount of time that elapsed from his arrival to the time when he was shot, the distance from which he was shot; and, Zerby's family wonders, how someone who was so intoxicated that his head was  bobbing could muster the coordination to point an object anywhere.

Patch was given permission by the property owner to photograph the shooting scene on Wednesday afternoon, hoping to provide a better context for those who are following the continuing story. We will continue to report developments in the case.

Zerby's viewing will be held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday at McKenzie Mortuary, 3843 Anaheim St., followed by a 7 p.m. memorial.