TheeBadOne
September 27, 2003, 12:48 PM
The family of a mentally ill man who a year ago was shot to death by St. Paul police sued the department and city in federal court Thursday.
Ki Yang, 46, had a history of schizophrenia, his family said. He was shot to death Sept. 27, 2002, in his home after he ignored orders from officer Michael Tharalson to drop a BB gun that resembled a rifle and a sickle-like blade about 20 inches long.
Instead, he charged at Tharalson, who fired six shots as Yang kept advancing.
The family maintains that the officers and the department did not have sufficient training in how to deal with people with mental illness.
In the suit, filed in Minneapolis, the family claims that officers at the scene "treated Ki no different than if he had been a belligerent drunk" even though "they knew Ki was mentally ill."
The family also claims, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, that police discriminated against Ki by refusing to help him and by sending away paramedics from the scene.
Officer Paul Schnell, the department's spokesman, said the department would not comment Thursday.
"The department has not had a chance to review the suit," he said.
The monetary amounts for damages were not spelled out in the suit.
* Yang's death was the second fatal shooting by St. Paul police in less than a month. On Sept. 2, 2002, three officers killed a 19-year-old man on the East Side after he punctured the lung of an officer with a samurai-style sword while being handcuffed.
After Yang's death, Police Chief William Finney ordered additional training for officers.
Finney has noted that St. Paul police handle more than 900 calls annually for service involving mentally ill people and deadly force is almost never used.
The department also has a psychologist, Sgt. Dennis Conroy, to train officers and advise Finney on procedures for handling mentally ill suspects.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4119879.html
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Sad, but is a mentally ill man attacking you with weapons any different than a man attacking you with weapons?
There is no info in the article about why the police were called there, or what was going on.
Ki Yang, 46, had a history of schizophrenia, his family said. He was shot to death Sept. 27, 2002, in his home after he ignored orders from officer Michael Tharalson to drop a BB gun that resembled a rifle and a sickle-like blade about 20 inches long.
Instead, he charged at Tharalson, who fired six shots as Yang kept advancing.
The family maintains that the officers and the department did not have sufficient training in how to deal with people with mental illness.
In the suit, filed in Minneapolis, the family claims that officers at the scene "treated Ki no different than if he had been a belligerent drunk" even though "they knew Ki was mentally ill."
The family also claims, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, that police discriminated against Ki by refusing to help him and by sending away paramedics from the scene.
Officer Paul Schnell, the department's spokesman, said the department would not comment Thursday.
"The department has not had a chance to review the suit," he said.
The monetary amounts for damages were not spelled out in the suit.
* Yang's death was the second fatal shooting by St. Paul police in less than a month. On Sept. 2, 2002, three officers killed a 19-year-old man on the East Side after he punctured the lung of an officer with a samurai-style sword while being handcuffed.
After Yang's death, Police Chief William Finney ordered additional training for officers.
Finney has noted that St. Paul police handle more than 900 calls annually for service involving mentally ill people and deadly force is almost never used.
The department also has a psychologist, Sgt. Dennis Conroy, to train officers and advise Finney on procedures for handling mentally ill suspects.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4119879.html
******************************************
Sad, but is a mentally ill man attacking you with weapons any different than a man attacking you with weapons?
There is no info in the article about why the police were called there, or what was going on.