Shooting by INS Agent Protested : Slaying: Rally calls for federal probe. Police say off-duty official accidentally shot and killed a Latino youth suspected of breaking into his car.

A coalition of Latino organizations demonstrated in front of the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday to protest the shooting of a Mexican-American youth who died in a struggle with an agent of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Eduardo Hernandez, 18, died May 8 of a single gunshot wound to the chest while being detained by an off-duty INS agent who believed the youth was attempting to burglarize his car, police said.

Los Angeles Police Lt. Doc Warkentin said his department’s investigation indicates that the agent’s handgun accidentally fired as Hernandez struggled to escape.

“We’ve talked with a lot of witnesses and there are no discrepancies,” Warkentin said. “It was accidental. There was no intent on the agent’s part.”

But organizers of Wednesday’s demonstration said they believe the police and INS are glossing over a murder. Demonstrators likened Hernandez’s death to the case of Rodney G. King, whose beating by Los Angeles police officers drew national outrage after it was captured on an amateur cameraman’s videotape. Because there is no videotape of Hernandez’s death, they said they fear the case is being “swept under the rug.”

“Rodney King got really beat up, but he is still alive,” said Juan Jose Gutierrez, executive director of the nonprofit One Stop Immigration and Educational Center. “Here’s an individual that gets killed and nothing happens.”

Hernandez’s mother, Caridad, watched from the steps of the Federal Building as about 75 demonstrators chanted in Spanish: “The people, yes! La Migra , no!”

“I am very happy I am not alone,” she told the group. “When I was at home mourning the death of my son, I felt impotent, that this would be another crime that would go without justice. . . . Thank you all.”

Rudy Garcia, executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said the coalition is calling for a federal investigation of the case and is preparing a lawsuit against the INS.

“We don’t want vengeance,” he said. “We want justice. We want this man prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

The shooting occurred about 4 p.m. near the intersection of West 7th Street and Westmoreland Avenue in the Westlake district, Warkentin said.

INS Special Agent James Humble was in a bookstore at 3004 W. 7th St. when he saw a man walk up to his parked Porsche and punch out the passenger side window. The window shattered, but the car’s alarm was set off, apparently frightening the man away, Warkentin said.

Humble ran out of the bookstore and confronted Hernandez on 7th Street, where the agent identified himself as an officer and arrested Hernandez, Warkentin said. As the pair walked toward Humble’s car, Hernandez began struggling to escape, Warkentin said. Humble drew his revolver with his right hand while holding Hernandez with his left.

During the struggle, Hernandez pulled a screwdriver from his pocket and threatened the agent, Warkentin said. The screwdriver was knocked out of Hernandez’s hand but the struggle continued and Humble’s gun went off, sending a .380-caliber slug into Hernandez’s chest.

Investigators spoke with eight to 10 witnesses, all with similar accounts of the shooting. “There were witnesses all over who had a good view and there were no conflicting accounts,” Warkentin said.

The department’s investigation is completed and the case will be sent to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office today for a final determination on what, if any, charges will be filed against Humble, he said.

Gutierrez said the coalition intends to interview all the police witnesses to determine the circumstances of the death. “I don’t believe it was an accident,” he said. “Why is it that it’s always an accident when an officer is involved and it’s always a member of our community who gets killed?”

INS spokeswoman Virginia Kice refused to confirm the identity of the agent. She said he is a veteran investigator who was authorized to carry a weapon on and off duty. She said the INS has no involvement in the investigation, but as a matter of routine has referred the case to the U.S. Justice Department.

She said the agent returned to work for a few days after the shooting, but decided to take a temporary leave using his vacation time.

At the demonstration, Caridad Hernandez said her son would not have been involved in a crime, although police said the youth had a “minor” criminal record. Police officials refused to elaborate.

Caridad Hernandez described her son as a quiet, almost timid youth who had lived in this country for 12 years and wanted to be an auto mechanic.

“My son was a reasonable person,” she said. “He has never committed a crime and he was not an aggressive person.”