Salinas police chief clears officers who shot and killed man with a knife.

When police officers deploy "deadly force"—copspeak for guns—it's generally on an equal playing field, against a suspect wielding a similarly deadly weapon. 

Three Salinas Police officers responded to reports of a knife-wielding man running around the parking lot of Mi Pueblo last Friday night, and within minutes, two of them fired at 26-year-old Osman Hernandez, killing him. 

The officers' use of force was in keeping with protocol, and all three have been cleared to return to active duty, Police Chief Kelly McMillin announced in a press conference Thursday morning. 

After a weeklong administrative leave and internal investigation—which is common procedure for officer-involved shootings—McMillin and Investigations Cmdr. Vincent Maiorana laid out the details of the evening of May 9 that ended with Hernandez dead just a few minutes after police arrived on the scene. 

Beginning around 7pm, 911 operators received multiple reports of a man threatening and attacking people with a large knife in the East Salinas shopping center parking lot. 

At first one officer responded, and though he didn't see a knife, assumed that Hernandez was armed. Hernandez began walking toward the officer, who ordered him in Spanish to stop—to no avail. Maiorana described Hernandez as having "a blank stare, looking up into the sky."

The officer shot his taser twice, knocking Hernandez to the ground.

Two backup officers arrived, and the team of three moved in to handcuff and arrest Hernandez. They described his behavior as "bizarre," and the man never responded to their repeated commands to turn over onto his belly.

Instead, as the officers approached, Hernandez puckered his lips at one, as if to blow a kiss, then said in Spanish, "Please forgive me." He then lifted his shirt and reached for a lettuce knife in his waistband.

The two backup officers then fired shots, killing Hernandez.  

"The officers were in genuine fear for their personal safety," Maiorana said, once they were within slashing distance. 

With the investigation still ongoing—police are awaiting a final coroner's report, toxicology tests, and perhaps more witness testimony—they wouldn't release information on how many shots were fired, or whether Hernandez was drunk.

But they placed him at a bar earlier in the evening, where he spent a couple of hours drinking, and eventually had a physical altercation with another customer. 

Hernandez was known to carry his knife, and people who knew him reported he became belligerent when he was drunk. 

The El Salvador native had little contact with Salinas police. He was a victim of a crime last year, when he was jumped by strangers and stabbed. And a few weeks ago, officers had what McMillin called a "bizarre" encounter with Hernandez—who was in possession of a lettuce knife, but wasn't doing anything criminal, so there was no arrest.

"We come across people with knives every day. They're a common tool," McMillin said. 

"The overwhelming majority of people carry them appropriately."

Police are continuing their investigation, and encourage any witnesses from the crowded shopping center to come forward, and to present any phone video or audio recordings of the incident.