US Tried Twice to Deport Man Killed by Police in California

Federal officials tried twice to deport Alfred Olango, a 38-year-old man who was shot by police in Southern California on Tuesday. But, his native country of Uganda refused to take him back, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Olango's history with federal immigration authorities came to light in the wake of his being killed Tuesday by an El Cajon police officer after emergency dispatchers received a 911 call from his sister saying that he was "not acting like himself."

The shooting spurred protests Tuesday and Wednesday nights in El Cajon, about 16 miles northwest of San Diego.

Olango arrived in the U.S. in 1991 as a refugee from Uganda, but was ordered to be deported after he was convicted for transporting and selling narcotics, the U.S. immigration agency's western regional communications director, Virginia Kice, told ABC News in a statement. He was later released from immigration custody in 2003 after multiple requests were made to the Ugandan government to obtain travel documents for Olango.

Olango was then placed under an order of supervision, directing him to report to the agency on a regular basis, the immigration agency said. He was placed in immigration custody again in 2009 after serving prison time for a firearms charge conviction in Colorado. ICE tried again to obtain travel documents from Uganda for Olango, but their attempts were again "unsuccessful," Kice said.

He was released from custody a second time and reported to the agency as required until February 2015. He has not been in contact with the agency since then, Kice said.

In a press conference Thursday, Olango's tearful mother said it was "so hard" and "so painful" to lose a loved one. She also asked for demonstrations over her son's death to remain peaceful.

A representative for the family called for police to release any videos in the incident.

"We need you to release the tape, because the tape shows the whole picture and not just part of the picture," he said.

On Tuesday night, the caller to 911 in El Cajon said Olango was walking in traffic, endangering himself and motorists, according to police.

When police arrived, Olango refused multiple instructions to remove his hand from his pocket, causing one officer to draw his firearm, police said. At one point, Olango "rapidly drew an object from his front pants pockets, placed both hands together and extended them rapidly toward the officer, taking up what appeared to be a shooting stance," police said Tuesday.

The El Cajon Police Department disclosed Wednesday evening that the object Olango pulled from his pants pocket was a vape smoking device. A cellphone video provided to investigators is currently being reviewed and the district attorney's office will decide whether to release it to the public.

ABC News' Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.