Los Angeles police are under fire after video surfaced of two deputies fatally shooting an armed African American man more than 30 times over the weekend.

Several people called 911 Saturday morning to report a man acting erratically and shooting a gun in the air six or seven times in the Los Angeles suburb of Lynwood. Witnesses also said that the gunman, who was identified as 28-year-old Nicholas Robertson, briefly went inside a car wash and a pizza parlor, said officials.

Police say that Robertson continued to brandish his weapon and ignored their commands to drop his 45-caliber semiautomatic handgun after deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department arrived on the scene, reports The New York Times.

In the video footage, which was released Sunday, the deputies are seen shooting at Robertson even after he was on the ground crawling away from them. Thirty-three shots were fired in total, reports The Associated Press. The officers say they continued to shoot because Robertson still had the weapon in his hand.

"When he collapsed, his arms were underneath him, and the gun was still in his hand. There was never a time when the weapon was not in his possession," said homicide Capt. Steven Katz, according to The AP. He added that the gunman had walked across a busy street to a filling station where a family was pumping gas.

The National Action Network of Los Angeles, which monitors police shootings in communities of color, called for an independent investigation while also urging the community not to jumo to conclusions until all of the data has been revealed.

"We're saying let's not have a rush to judgment," said Najee Ali, the political director for the civil rights group. "Let's see the facts. Let's see all the videotapes of everything. Right now we are concerned, as it appears to us. It's very troubling any time someone is shot and killed by police officers."

However, the victim's relatives questioned the police tactics that led to his death, particularly why officers fired at a person who was apparently moving away from them and why they kept firing even after he crumpled to the ground.

"They was wrong," said Lanny Mason, the victim's uncle, about his nephew, who was a husband and a father of three.

"That child was crawling for his life. It looked like they were doing target practice on him. We're not going to let this go unpunished. If we have to protest, we're going to do what we have to do. The only way we're going to stop it is if the Hispanics and the blacks all stand together," he said.

Other relatives say Robertson was under the influence of alcohol during the shooting and had no history of mental illness. They are also unsure how he was able to obtain a gun.

On the other hand, Jim Bueermann, president of the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Police Foundation, said the shooting was justified since Robertson was in a busy commercial area.

"You cannot let someone armed and firing a weapon approach a mother with kids shopping or some guy walking along and minding his own business," he said, adding that cops "have an obligation to people in that area to protect them," reports ABC News.