[LA Times] A Korean American Family Called for Help. An LAPD Officer Responded, and Their Mentally Ill Son Was Shot

This is the summary of the article by Frank Shyong, Columnist of the LA Times on June 13, 2024. For the full version of the original article, please visit https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-13/lapd-shooting-yong#:~:text=Family%20demands%20answers%20after%20LAPD,began%20experiencing%20a%20bipolar%20episode.&text=But%20progress%20is%20slow.

A Korean American Family Called for Help. An LAPD Officer Responded, and Their Mentally Ill Son Was Shot

For those dealing with mental illness, from mild depression to severe schizophrenia, there’s often a fear that one difficult moment could undo all the progress made in managing their condition. Therapy and medication can help, but they can’t stop the worry of being misunderstood by others, especially loved ones. Living with mental illness often means accepting harsh labels like “crazy” or “dangerous,” while working to show the world a better side of yourself.

According to his loved ones, Yong Yang, 40, was succeeding in that fight. But in May, police forced their way into his parents’ home in Koreatown, where they found him having a hallucination and holding a kitchen knife.

It started during dinner, when Yong began hearing voices and struggling to find his words. Concerned, his mother, Myung Sook Yang, contacted the county’s psychiatric emergency response team the following day. A clinician arrived at their home but spent less than three minutes before declaring Yong a danger and calling the police, according to Min Yang, Yong’s father, who was present during the evaluation.

On the 911 call, the clinician told police, “I have a patient; he’s very violent. He tried to attack me and the father. He has bipolar schizophrenia.”

Yong had less than 10 seconds to respond to the police officer’s commands before being shot three times. He died shortly afterward.

Min Yang disputes the clinician’s claim that his son was violent and questions the diagnosis of schizophrenia. He’s especially troubled by the label of “violent” because, in this case, it became a death sentence. “Yong wasn’t violent,” Min said. “The police were violent. They came in ready to kill, and my son was never violent until they opened the door.”

In recent years, Los Angeles has launched several programs to reduce the number of mentally ill individuals shot by police. In 2023, the county allocated $73.9 million to mobile response teams that focus on mental health emergencies, with 339 licensed clinicians responding to such calls. Just weeks before Yong’s death, the county held an outreach event in Koreatown to raise awareness about these resources.

However, progress has been slow. Between 2016 and 2019, nearly a quarter of people shot by LAPD officers were believed to be suffering from mental illness, according to data. In 2023, police shootings increased to 34 incidents, up from 31 the previous year, with many of these cases involving people holding sharp objects during mental health crises.

Officer Andres Lopez, who shot Yong, had previously been involved in another shooting in 2021, when he wounded a mentally ill man carrying a replica handgun outside a police station.

For Yong’s family, the idea that someone in the middle of a mental health episode could respond rationally to police commands in just 10 seconds is unrealistic. A month after his death, his family is still grappling with why the authorities decided that he was dangerous. To them, Yong was a gentle and caring person. He took in stray cats from the neighborhood, worried about his parents’ health, and loved to sing Queen songs at karaoke.

Yong had been battling severe bipolar disorder and aural hallucinations for over 20 years, a struggle that often kept his parents awake at night. But recently, things had started to improve, according to his twin brother, Yin Yang. “For years, I was worried about him, but lately, he was the one worrying about me,” Yin said.

Yong had embraced a disciplined routine of prayer, meditation, and yoga, in addition to regular bike rides and tennis matches with his parents. He had even fallen in love, and for his girlfriend, he pushed past his fears of public spaces and loud noises so they could attend concerts together.

Though there were still occasional episodes of disorientation, Yong was living a fuller, happier life than he had in years. His story is a rare success among Asian American mental health patients, a community where access to mental health care is often limited, and stigmas around therapy persist.

Yong and his family had learned that a return to normalcy wasn’t always possible, but that happiness could still be achieved by accepting the new forms life takes. Yong’s struggles taught Min that strength wasn’t just about standing tall—it was about getting back up. Listening to his son, Min came to admire Yong’s perseverance in the face of overwhelming challenges. “He told me he hears voices every day telling him to hurt himself. If it were me, I couldn’t handle it,” Min said.

For Myung Sook, those early years were spent in a constant search for the right doctors and medications. She described it as “walking on ice,” always unsure of what would come next. At Yong’s funeral, she shared how she had even tried one of his pills to understand what he was going through. But despite all the difficulties, Yong always reassured his parents, promising to be strong enough to care for them one day.

This is the summary of the article by Frank Shyong, Columnist of the LA Times on June 13, 2024. For the full version of the original article, please visit https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-13/lapd-shooting-yong#:~:text=Family%20demands%20answers%20after%20LAPD,began%20experiencing%20a%20bipolar%20episode.&text=But%20progress%20is%20slow.