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.

    • Decq@lemmy.world
      15·
      1 month ago

      Eh? Is it really just normal over there to assume the police is this incompetent and are basically just hitman on call? Because this is not at all what I would expect when I call the cops. Blaming the parents, that’s just massive victim blaming…

      • snownyte@kbin.social
        2·
        1 month ago

        The parents knew for years how bad things have gotten, wasn’t there a shred of a thought in their shallow brains that could’ve told them that if they called the cops that it’d escalate to this? No?

        • wildcardology@lemmy.world
          18·
          1 month ago

          But the parents did not call the cops, they called the department of health mental health services who must have called the police for assistance.

        • Decq@lemmy.world
          9·
          1 month ago

          Well maybe, but I still don’t think you should assume of cops they react this way. They should have been trained in deescalation… Not shoot at the first sign of a threat. Also I think you should turn the blame around. The cops knew what they were called in for, so should have entered with more care.

          • BombOmOm@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            1 month ago

            I still don’t think you should assume of cops they react this way

            If one threatens others with death or serious bodily harm, they should expect lethal force as a response. You are not the victim when you are threatening the lives of innocents.

            • Decq@lemmy.world
              14·
              1 month ago

              Jesus no! You don’t deal with mental health patients this way! You should have started a dialogue and keep him occupied until he calms down and possibly comes out himself. And if he doesn’t you break down the door, step back and reevaluate the situation. Not just barge in and shoot him.

    • NarrativeBear@lemmy.world
      14·
      1 month ago

      I agree with your first statement, police are not therapists. They are not trained for this. They are basically a “sledge hammer” and everything is a “nail” per their training.

      But, blambing the parents for calling for help should not be something that should be stigmatised in this way. Sure, maybe calling the police may not have been the best option, but the system is really failing us in general when people ask for help.

      Calling a help line should really direct you to more appropriate service. Though this may not exist.

      Edit: thanks for everyone that read the article (doing the lords work). The parents called a help line and the help line forwarded it to the police. So the systems for help failed the people they are designed to help in a way.

      Also no need to downvote snownyte so badly guys!

      • girlfreddy@lemmy.ca
        6·
        1 month ago

        Myung 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’s Psychiatric Mobile Response Team responded but ultimately turned to the police for assistance.

        The parents didn’t call the cops.

        • theareciboincident@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          2·
          1 month ago

          There’s no problem with someone equipped to handle violent situations being present.

          The problem is if they unnecessarily escalate and get involved instead of standing by.

          The solution is to dismantle the entire police system and rebuild from scratch with accountability and training.

          We just need to vote for the Democrats one more time and they’ll finally do something about it right? That’s what all the funny memes here tell me. The democrats that are literally sponsored by police unions and advertise that fact endlessly.

        • NarrativeBear@lemmy.world
          2·
          1 month ago

          Very interesting, this even more so highlights how the system is somewhat failing or overburden in a way.

          Even calling for assistance or help down the right channels can lead you down some unwanted or unseen directions.

          I suppose that this same reason is why homelessness is as big of a issue, people don’t ask for help because it usually ends up being more of a burden then the situation they may already be in.