BILLINGS — An unarmed robbery suspect moved his hands six times in defiance of an officer’s orders before the officer fatally shot him during a traffic stop, Billings Police Chief Rich St. John said Wednesday.

St. John said the actions captured on a police dash-cam video justified the officer’s decision to draw his weapon and shoot Richard Ramirez, 38, three times.

“I’m upset we had a tragic end to this,” St. John said. “I’m confident we did things properly.”

A search of the car in which Ramirez was a passenger found drug paraphernalia but no weapons, St. John said.

Family members said after the shooting that Ramirez — a single father who was unemployed — had prior run-ins with authorities including for drugs.

But they said he was not violent and criticized the officer for over-reacting during Monday night’s traffic stop.

Adding to the concern, authorities said two of the dead man’s brothers — Daniel and Jason Ramirez — are wanted on felony charges including drug possession, robbery and failure to register as a violent offender.

Other members of Ramirez’s family had no immediate comment on the alleged threats to law enforcement, said the Rev. Tracy Starr of Wayman Chapel, who said he is serving as a spiritual adviser to the family.

Ramirez is the fifth person shot and killed by law enforcement in Billings in two years.

The officer was looking for him as a suspect in a robbery in which a 61-year-old man had been shot in the arm Sunday. The victim identified Ramirez as the shooter, authorities said.

About 11 p.m. Monday, the officer was in the area of the robbery when he recognized Ramirez in the back seat of a car that he followed for several blocks and into an alley, St. John said.

During the next 32 seconds, the officer issued seven commands for Ramirez to stop moving or put his hands up. Throughout that time, St. John said, Ramirez could be seen on the video raising and lowering both hands. The officer fired after Ramirez reached downward, the chief said.

The unnamed officer is a five-year veteran who has previously discharged his weapon in the line of duty, St. John said. No details of that previous incident have been released, but St. John promised to come out with more information, including the police video, after security concerns have been resolved.

In another case, a coroner’s inquest was being held Wednesday to determine if a Yellowstone County sheriff’s deputy acted appropriately in the most recent prior shooting, in which an escaped inmate was killed inside a stolen car near a shopping center after a standoff.

The other prior police shootings have been ruled as justified by coroner’s juries.