Police say they are still trying to figure out why Hannibal Escobar, 28, was trying to get into a trailer in north Nampa on Saturday morning — and why his brother pulled the trigger.

Initial reports indicated that Escobar’s 21-year-old brother, whose name has not been released, thought he was shooting an intruder.

“If only Hannibal would have just said who he was, he would probably be alive today,” said Angela Kranney, who lives two doors down on 2nd Street North were the shooting took place about 5:45 a.m. Saturday. “I can’t believe it was anything other than an awful, awful accident.”

“I’ve known (the 21-year-old) since he was about 9 years old ... he is just devastated by this. From what I heard, Hannibal had his arms out ... he may have been trying to hug him. But it was so dark ... Hannibal wasn’t supposed to be in town at the time.”

The younger brother told officers that he was sleeping on a couch when he heard a noise coming from the front of the trailer and suspected someone was trying to break in. He said he grabbed a handgun, opened the door, and fired one at shot the man he saw there.

Hannibal Escobar died of a gunshot wound to the chest, police said.

The area where the shooting took place is a small porch with three walls and two doors, next to a carport. There is a surveillance camera above one of the doors and a lightbulb on a wall. The enclosed area would be very dark if the light was not on.

Kranney said she was sleeping when she heard a loud “pop.”

“I thought it was leftover fireworks, but when I heard the sirens, I knew something was really wrong,” she said.

Kranney said the brother called 911 and then frantically gave first aid to Hannibal Escobar until paramedics showed up.

They took Escobar to a hospital in Ada County, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy was conducted over the weekend, but Nampa police say the manner of death is listed as pending as they wait for toxicology results.

Police did several interviews and are investigating the case, Nampa Sgt. Tim Randall said Monday. No decision has been made about charges, he said.

Among other things, police are trying to figure out what the Escobars were doing at that residence and why the shooter thought he was in danger of a break-in.

Kranney said that they used to live in the neighborhood and that the best friend of one of the brothers lives at the trailer. No one was home Monday when a Statesman reporter went there.

Kranney said the 21-year-old told her that he was awakened by someone shaking a window air conditioning unit and called out to ask who was there, but didn’t hear an answer.

Other neighbors said Monday that they don’t know who lives in the trailer and that they either didn’t hear the gunshot or were out of town when it happened.

Patrick Orr: 377-6219, Twitter: @IDS_Orr