Officer shooting kills armed man with mental illness in Koreatown – NBC Los Angeles

Authorities released more details Saturday about the police-involved shooting of a man with mental health issues who was reportedly armed with a knife on the edge of Koreatown.

The shooting happened shortly after 11 a.m. Thursday at an apartment in the 400 block of South Gramercy Place, according to the Los Angeles Police Department, which initially said officers responded to a report of a “violent male.”

Officers encountered Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health personnel attempting to take Yong Yang into custody. DMH personnel were called to the scene by Yang’s parents due to “his erratic and threatening behavior,” according to the LAPD.

“Officers were also informed that Yang did not live at the location, had been diagnosed as bipolar with schizoaffective disorder and had attempted to assault one of the DMH employees when they attempted to speak to him,” the police statement said.

DMH personnel determined Yang posed a danger to others and told officers they had already completed paperwork to place him in a 72-hour mental evaluation. An ambulance was on its way to transport Yang to a nearby hospital.

Police said several attempts were made to communicate with Yang and encourage him to leave the home, but he refused. Officers grabbed a key, went up a narrow staircase leading to the front door and announced they were opening the front door.

“As they did so, Yang was seen several feet away in the living room armed with a large kitchen knife,” police said. “Moments later, Yang approached the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred.”

Arriving paramedics pronounced Yang dead at the scene, and a 14-inch knife with a 6-inch blade was recovered at the scene, police said.

No officers or bystanders were injured.

Investigators from the department’s Force Investigation Division responded to the scene and investigated the shooting.