Andres Lopez<\/a>, shoots him seconds later. <\/p>\n\n\n\nMyung Sook Yang said she initially called the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health about her son on the morning of the shooting. Members of the county\u2019s Psychiatric Mobile Response Team responded but ultimately turned to the police for assistance. She and her husband, Min Yang, said Yong had been hearing voices and wanted to be in the apartment alone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe whole situation was created so that he could protect himself. That\u2019s all. He just yelled out. People were trying to barge in, and he clearly stated that \u2018you guys are not invited,\u2019\u201d Min Yang said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur field intervention teams are trained to de-escalate mental health crises without law enforcement involvement,\u201d the statement said. \u201cIn 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\u2019s efforts, law enforcement will be contacted to maintain safety and attempt to keep the peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Police and Lopez declined to comment. Lopez had been involved in a 2021 nonfatal shooting of a man who had a replica firearm. In October 2023, the district attorney concluded that Lopez acted in self-defense in his use of deadly force. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The couple said it was the day before the shooting that they began to notice their son talking to himself and to voices in his head. The behavior continued into the next day, but it never turned violent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in a recording captured in the bodycam video, a clinician, whose name has not been released, told police on the phone that Yong Yang\u2019s dad had said Yong had become violent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe father called our department only because he\u2019s very violent and aggressive,\u201d the clinician said. \u201cWe tried to engage him. He became aggressive, threatening me. I kind of stood away.\u201d The clinician\u2019s encounter with Yong Yang was not captured in the released video. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Police Capt. Kelly Muniz also said in the video that the clinician had said Yong Yang was yelling and talking to himself at his parents\u2019 home the night before the shooting, eventually forcing the parents out of the apartment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe just tried to attack me and the father,\u201d a clinician, whose face is blurred, says in the video as Min Yang, whose face is also blurred, walks into the conversation. \u201cHe became very aggressive. He tried to kick me. I walk away. He had some physical altercation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Min Yang said his son was not physically violent at the time of the shooting or the night before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe wanted to be alone. The blinds were shut off. And no one comes in. That\u2019s how he protects himself. He knows he\u2019s safe inside of his residence or his parents\u2019,\u201d Min Yang said. \u201cHe did not push us out of my apartment the night before. He was talking strangely. That\u2019s why we left him alone so he doesn\u2019t have to interact with other individuals, even his parents.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the day of the incident, after the couple called the Mental Health Department, personnel arrived and took little time to understand Yong Yang\u2019s symptoms, his father said. Ryan Casey, an attorney for the Yang family, said personnel spent less than 2 minutes and 30 seconds assessing and assisting Yong before they called the police. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Min Yang added that he was standing between his son and a clinician and never witnessed any kicking or physical violence, only shouting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMaybe the guy felt threatened, but I don\u2019t think my son threatened him,\u201d he said. \u201cIf he was threatened by the mentally ill person\u2019s remark like that, when he\u2019s trying to barge in behind me, then he needs to study more.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The video shows officers trying to coax Yang out of the apartment after having spoken with the clinician and Min Yang. Without success, the officers request backup and descend the apartment building\u2019s stairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bodycam video from a police supervisor, who arrives about 19 minutes later, shows her telling Min Yang that Yong Yang cannot be taken to the hospital unless he is a threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThreat can be dangerous to himself and to others,\u201d Min Yang tells the supervisor in the video. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Casey, the family attorney, said Yang was referring to 5150, the statute that stipulates a person may be detained when they are \u201ca danger to others, or to themselves\u201d as a result of a mental disorder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe believe there is much more to the conversation than the edited clip released by LAPD and that full disclosure of all camera footage from all officers is necessary,\u201d Casey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The video also shows the supervisor warning Min Yang that they may have to put their hands on Yong Yang to remove him. It then shows another attempt to draw Yong Yang out of the apartment. As he refuses their entry, the supervisor tells her fellow officers, \u201cWe\u2019re going to have a use of force.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later on, more video shows several officers returning to the apartment stairwell. An officer opens the apartment with the key to find Yong Yang standing in the living room with a kitchen knife. The officers shout at him, demanding he drop the knife. Yang quickly backs away from officers upon seeing them with a knife in one hand and his other hand up. He then walks toward them. Seconds later, Lopez fires several shots at Yang, who immediately drops. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOfficers gave Yang commands to drop the knife. However, he did not comply with the officer\u2019s commands and instead continued advancing towards them, resulting in an officer-involved shooting,\u201d Muniz says in the video. \u201cYang was struck by gunfire, dropped the knife and was subsequently taken into custody.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
More bodycam video shows several officers handcuffing Yang while his body lies motionless. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the scene and pronounced Yang deceased, police said in a news release. He died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to the county medical examiner\u2019s report. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yang\u2019s father said he never thought police would resort to gunfire so quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI gave them the keys so that they can have access to handle the situation peacefully and quickly,\u201d he said, adding that he assumed they would try to calm his son down and take him to the hospital. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Min Yang said that he was not given any details about what had happened in the apartment until some time later and that law enforcement did not directly contact him to tell him his son had been shot. One officer hinted at Yong Yang\u2019s death, saying, \u201cI\u2019m sorry for your loss,\u201d Min Yang said. Another officer tried to talk him down, he added, telling him things like \u201ca police\u2019s job is really difficult\u201d and \u201cdon\u2019t make a scene.\u201d Law enforcement had not spoken directly to the family to explain what had happened, Min Yang said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo politician, no police said anything to me except that \u2018I\u2019m sorry for your loss\u2019 for 16 days,\u201d Yang said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Min and Myung Sook Yang are calling for an independent investigation and a release of all evidence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI feel so sorry for my son, not just because he\u2019s my son. He is an individual; he was scared and trying to protect himself against seemingly demons in his eyes,\u201d Min Yang said. \u201cI\u2019m so sorry that he has to just move away from this world, forcefully, and his life. \u2026 How can I live without feeling sorry for the rest of my life?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
nbcnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Parents in Los Angeles\u2019 Koreatown called for mental health help in the middle of their son\u2019s bipolar episode this month. Clinical personnel showed up \u2014 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\u2019 apartment […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":27558,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1152],"tags":[28551,2756,3749,1914,1237,1530],"class_list":["post-27557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humanrights","tag-counseling","tag-korean","tag-la","tag-parents","tag-police","tag-shooting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27557"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27559,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27557\/revisions\/27559"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}