They say that might explain why he was acting suspiciously.
Meanwhile, Jones' friends are shocked by this morning's shooting, saying they were with him just minutes before it happened.
"Like three or four shots pretty loud and I came outside, walked up the street and I seen them put them in the ambulance and I thought, oh my god, that's the guy that just had dinner with my wife and kids."
Joseph Touchstone was with 41-year-old Vernal Jones just minutes before Fresno police shot him outside this Central Fresno apartment early Saturday morning.
Touchstone says Jones was upset about a fight he had had with his wife, but that he never saw him with a weapon Friday night.
But, Chief Jerry Dyer says his officers spotted Jones holding a shiny object in his right hand. "The officer then asked the suspect if he had a gun and it was at that time that the suspect replied, yes, I have a piece."
The officers were initially called out to the complex by a neighbor who claimed she saw someone in the area with a gun.
When they arrived on scene, police say Jones walked away. That's when they confronted him.
But after repeated requests to show his hands went unanswered, officers fired four times at Jones...hitting him three times in the shoulder and legs.
"He said he didn't have no gun. They told him to put his hands out his pockets several times and he wouldn't put his hands out his pocket. They kept shooting him until he fell in front of 202."
Investigators have not located a gun but they did recover a box cutter.
Police have dealt with Jones before. They say he is a meth addict and last month, he attacked his wife with a hatchet.
But, in a strange twist, Jones apologized during an interview at the hospital.
"Suspect Jones told detective Benson that he takes responsibility for his actions and felt the officers did what they had to do."
Jones was recovering in the hospital Saturday night. He is said to be in serious, but stable condition.
He faces three charges, including assault with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest and violation of a restraining order.
