Less than 10 seconds after officers opened the door, police shot Yong Yang in his parents’ Koreatown home while he was holding a knife during a bipolar episode.
Less than 10 seconds after officers opened the door, police shot Yong Yang in his parents’ Koreatown home while he was holding a knife during a bipolar episode.
Parents in Los Angeles’ Koreatown called for mental health help in the middle of their son’s bipolar episode this month. Clinical personnel showed up — and so did police shortly after.
Police fatally shot Yong Yang, 40, who had a knife in his hand, less than 10 seconds after officers opened the door to his parents’ apartment where he had locked himself in, newly released bodycam video shows.
Now the parents of Yang, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder around 15 years ago, have told NBC News exclusively that they are disputing part of the account captured on bodycam, in which police recount a clinician’s saying Yang was violent before the shooting on May 2.
Police fatally shot Yong Yang, 40, who had a knife in his hand, less than 10 seconds after officers opened the door to his parents’ apartment where he had locked himself in, newly released bodycam video shows.
Myung Sook Yang said she initially called the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health about her son on the morning of the shooting.
The Mental Health Department declined to comment on the case but provided a statement about circumstances in which field-based staff members would request law enforcement support.
“In instances where de-escalation through clinical means is not possible, and the person in crisis remains an imminent threat to themselves or others, despite DMH’s efforts, law enforcement will be contacted to maintain safety and attempt to keep the peace.”
On the day of the incident, after the couple called the Mental Health Department, personnel arrived and took little time to understand Yong Yang’s symptoms, his father said.
Another officer tried to talk him down, he added, telling him things like “a police’s job is really difficult” and “don’t make a scene.” Law enforcement had not spoken directly to the family to explain what had happened, Min Yang said.
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Ah yes. I am sure they had a chapter in crisis de-escalation by telling the one in crisis that being a cop is hard, and its their fault. Its right before the daily killology period, and then qualified immunity recess.