Officers’ Actions in Man’s Death Appear Justified, Sheriff Says : Law enforcement: He says the deputies appeared to have done all they could to deal peacefully with a suspect who reportedly was wielding a knife aggressively.

Sheriff Sherman Block said Wednesday that “based upon the facts that are available to me,” deputies “did all that they could have done under the circumstances” to deal peacefully with the situation before fatally shooting an East Los Angeles man who allegedly was aggressively wielding a 14-inch knife.

But, the sheriff said, the death of Luis Martinez, 25, about 9 p.m. Tuesday at the intersection of Olympic Boulevard and McBride Avenue, just blocks from his home, “will be thoroughly investigated” by the department before a final determination is made.

A few hours after the sheriff answered questions about the shooting at his monthly news conference, Father Juan Romero of the San Francisco Catholic Church, who identified himself as a parish priest for Martinez’s family, said the family was consulting an attorney about suing the Sheriff’s Department.

Romero, who described Martinez as a victim, said he had talked to a witness who said he had not observed Martinez with a knife, and that one of the unidentified deputies had continued shooting at him even after he fell to the pavement.

Another man, a merchant who said he was a witness and was interviewed by The Times, said, however, that he had seen Martinez with a knife and that he had continued to advance on deputies with it, despite their shouts that they would shoot unless he dropped it. The witness declined to be named.

Spokesmen for the Sheriff’s Department, as well as the sheriff himself, gave this account of the shooting:

They said deputies had originally been summoned to the scene by a 911 call from a pay phone, with the caller saying there was a man with a knife.

When the deputies arrived, at first they saw no such man, but they did notice a group of teen-agers spray-painting graffiti on a grocery store wall. It was during the act of arresting and handcuffing two of those youths that Martinez was observed across the street holding up traffic and grasping the knife over his head.

Sheriff’s spokesman Roger Hom said Martinez then shouted: “I’m the one you’re looking for, go ahead and kill me.”

Block said, “This man came out of the shadows with a knife over his head, saying that, ‘I’m the one you want,’ and this dialogue started and the confrontation began.”

The sheriff said the deputies were concerned for the safety of the juveniles they had been arresting, one of whom was already handcuffed, and they had radioed for assistance and retreated “a significant distance.” But when Martinez continued to advance, he said they opened fire.

“The individual (Martinez) appeared bent upon trying to bring about the results,” Block said. “But, again, I can’t make a final and conclusive statement because the investigation process has just begun in that incident.”

Martinez died at County-USC Medical Center less than an hour after the shooting.

The witness who spoke to The Times said there had been five minutes of shouting between the deputies and Martinez, with the deputies warning him repeatedly they would shoot him unless he dropped the knife, and Martinez shouting back: “Shoot me.”

Others at the intersection Wednesday afternoon who had not seen the incident but said they had talked to people who had, said they had been told Martinez appeared to be drunk and that he had been shot at least once after falling to the pavement.

However, the witness who was interviewed said Martinez had not been shot after falling. He said a backup deputy, arriving on the scene immediately after the shooting, had kicked the knife, which Martinez was still holding, out of his hand.

Block, asked whether the deputies could not just back away in such instances and keep the suspect under surveillance, responded Wednesday:

“When you’ve got a person with a 14-inch knife coming toward the officers and a group of juveniles . . . it’s pretty hard to just walk away and wait and see what happens. Then, if he stabs one or more of the juveniles, then you say, ‘Now we’ve got a good reason for going back and dealing with him.’ ” It was not a secured situation, such as a barricaded house, where the person is unlikely to do harm, he added, and where deputies can call resources such as special weapons teams.

The attorney that Martinez’s family met with late Wednesday, Arnoldo Casillas, relayed word that he would have no immediate statement on the incident, and members of the family were not available for comment.