BERWICK, La. (AP) — Police in a Louisiana town fatally shot a would-be carjacker armed with what appeared to be a handgun early Tuesday, state police said.

The dead man was later found to have been armed with a BB pistol, the news release from Louisiana State Police Troop I said.

The shooting happened after police in the town of Berwick, and the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office responded to a call about a suspicious person at 2:30 a.m.

A man later identified as Robert Pearce, 37, of New Iberia, ran from the officers, authorities said. As he tried to enter a female motorist’s car, he was shot. It was not immediately clear how many or which of the responding officers and deputies fired. Investigators also did not release information about Pearce’s race.

The Berwick Police Department requested that state police handle the investigation, according to the release.

Pearce was pronounced dead at the scene by the St. Mary Parish coroner.

“It was later determined that the handgun was a BB gun pistol,” the release said.