A man who family members say is schizophrenic was shot and killed by deputies after allegedly stabbing a person in the Florence area Saturday night.
Deputies responded just before 7 p.m. to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon call in the 1100 block of 75th Street, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
When deputies arrived on scene, they found a man with apparent stab wounds. The victim told deputies that the suspect was in the back of a home, officials said.
After locating the suspect, deputies tried to detain the suspect, who allegedly pulled out a knife and attempted to assault deputies. Officials said deputies tried to use "less-lethal force," but it was ineffective. Details about the use of force were not given.
The man allegedly continued his attempts to assault deputies and was shot and killed. Authorities recovered the knife at the scene.
The man's family said authorities were notified beforehand that he suffered from a mental illness, and believe he shouldn't have been shot.
The man’s father, Roberto Martinez, said he told deputies not to shoot, but they ignored him. He said he watched as four deputies fired about 10 rounds and killed his only son, 28-year old Johnny Martinez.
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"After they were notified that he was mentally ill, they ignored my parents and they went ahead and shot him," said the man's sister. "So, we're trying to find out what's really going on."
She said the family would hire an attorney to look into the shooting.
Deputies said Martinez got in an argument with a neighbor, allegedly stabbing him with a kitchen knife.
The shooting is under investigation by the sheriff's department, as well as the Los Angeles County district attorney's and coroner's offices.
