Updated

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck has recommended criminal charges against an officer who shot and killed an unarmed homeless man in Venice.

Beck told the Los Angeles Times investigators concluded that Brendon Glenn was on his stomach, attempting to push himself off the ground, when Officer Clifford Proctor fired twice, hitting the 29-year-old in the back last May.

Beck said he made his recommendation last month to Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, who will ultimately decide whether to file charges. It wasn't immediately clear what the charges could be.

Proctor's attorney said the officer saw Glenn reaching for his partner's gun.

After reviewing video, witness accounts and other evidence, investigators determined Glenn was not trying to take either Proctor's gun or his partner's weapon at the time of the shooting, Beck said. Proctor's partner told investigators he did not know why the officer opened fire, the newspaper reported Monday.

The officers were responding to a 911 call that a man who turned out to be Glenn was harassing passers-by on a block of restaurants and bars. After a struggle, Proctor shot Glenn, and he died at a hospital.

Beck said he has suggested that prosecutors file charges against officers in other cases but never for a fatal on-duty shooting.

The shooting came amid tensions nationwide over police killings of unarmed black men. Glenn was black, as is Proctor.