(Courtesy of San Diego County Sheriff’s Department)
Yale doctoral graduate fatally shot by San Diego police officer and deputies
The shooting has raised concerns about the use of police force against people of color and those who struggle with mental health issues.
APR 08, 2022
Last month, Yan Li, a 47 year-old San Diego resident and doctoral graduate from the Yale School of Public Health, was fatally shot by a San Diego police officer and several San Diego County sheriff’s deputies when deputies served her with an eviction notice at her condo on W Beech Street.
According to the body camera video released by the San Diego County sheriff’s Department, at around 12:30 p.m. on March 3, in the 400 block of W. Beech Street in Little Italy, San Diego County sheriff’s Deputy Jason Bunch served an eviction notice to Li. She opened the door with a knife, and the situation escalated as she refused to put it down and the deputy called for backup. Three San Diego County sheriff’s deputies and an officer with the San Diego Police Department opened fire on her after she allegedly stabbed a SDPD K-9 officer in the chest. Li died at the scene. Her death sent shockwaves around the School of Public Health, Asian American Students Alliance at Yale and Alliance of Chinese Americans San Diego, prompting a discussion on the excessive use of police force, especially against non-white civilians.
“We at the Yale School of Public Health were deeply saddened to learn of the March 3 fatal shooting of Dr. Yan Li by a San Diego police officer and several San Diego County sheriff’s deputies,” School of Public Health Dean Sten Vermund, professor Heping Zhang, and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Mayur Desai wrote in an op-ed to The San Diego Union-Tribune. “Dr. Li was a talented scientist who received her doctorate in biostatistics from our school, winning one of our most prestigious student awards. It is heartbreaking to see a colleague’s life end violently in footage from police body cameras. Our hearts go out to everyone scarred by this tragedy, none of whom began their day expecting such trauma. It is wise, then, to seek to learn about the origin of events that led both to the stabbing of a police officer and that cost the life of a 47-year-old scientist and mother of a UC Berkeley student.”
In September 2003, Li co-authored the paper “Analyzing Multiply Matched Cohort Studies with Two Different Comparison Groups: Application to Pregnancy Rates among HIV+ Women” with professors Daniel Zelterman and Brian Forsyth.
Forsyth wrote to the News that he was sad to hear of her death but that he did not know Li personally. Zelterman declined to speak.
On April 3, the Asian Americans Students Alliance at Yale released a statement on Li’s death.
“AASA reaffirmed its commitment to abolition,” AASA wrote. “Countless examples of police brutality, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities, confirm that our current criminal justice system operates on racist, violent, and militant tactics that sees human life as disposable when presented with inconvenient situations.”
What happened on March 3
The body camera video shows that when Bunch handed the eviction notice to Li and noticed she was holding a knife, he said, “Put the knife down or I’m going to f***ing shoot you.” Bunch held the gun against Li while repeatedly commanding her to put the knife down, and Li refused and shouted back: “Put your gun down. How do I know you are not an intruder?”
Bunch did not respond to Li’s request to show his badge.
After Li threw away the paperwork and shut the door, Bunch called for additional deputies and resources. The law enforcement personnel returning to the apartment brought a police dog and both non-lethal — a “bean-bag” gun — and lethal weapons.
Lt. Matt Dobbs from the Homicide Division said at a press conference that the deputies tried to communicate with Li for the next 45 minutes before they went inside her condo, and a supervisor attempted to speak with Li through the door.
According to Dobbs, Li threatened a custodial worker at the building a day before.
Bunch was the first officer to enter Li’s apartment. The deputies and officer shot Li with bean bags when she was hiding in her bedroom and refused to come out. The situation quickly escalated to chaotic shouting and Li allegedly stabbed the K-9 officer, prompting Officer Rogelio Medina, Sheriff’s Sgt. Daniel Nickel and deputies Javier Medina and David Williams to open fire.
The deputies provided around 10 minutes of first-aid to Li before paramedics arrived. Li died at the scene.
The injured K-9 officer was treated at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center and released.
The San Diego Police Department homicide detectives are investigating the events surrounding Li’s death. A decision on the legitimacy of the shooting will be determined when the investigations have concluded.
The department did not respond to the several requests for comment.
Experts discussed how police could respond to mental health crises amongst civilians
Questions soon arose about Li’s death, with several suggesting that the police could have better handled the situation.
“The video really was horrifying,” Vermund said. “Dr. Li seemed pretty paranoid on camera. … The sheriff’s deputy responded to her opening [the] door with a knife by drawing his gun, screaming at her, and screaming obscenities at her, which is not likely to reduce paranoia.”
Vermund also noted that eviction is one of the most anxiety provoking events.
There might have been an advantage to having a professional crisis counselor or experienced mental health social worker present to work with Li and potentially save her life, Vermund said.
“Best practices used in other law enforcement jurisdictions should be studied to see how persons experiencing a crisis can best be engaged with the assistance of trained mental health professionals.” the three School of Public Health professors wrote in the op-ed. “Such experts can be embedded within law enforcement personnel, and their deployment can be part of the standard procedures for emergency response when dealing with a potentially disturbed person.”
Vermund said that the op-ed was written to continue the discussion of the circumstances and how the San Diego Police Department — and every police department — can respond to persons with mental crises more effectively. He also pointed out that the number of individuals who suffer from mental illness and experience issues of police brutality or misuse of force is high, but often does not receive the same attention as victims may not have the same educational background as Li.
John DeCarlo, professor and director of the master’s program in criminal justice at the University of New Haven, said that, looking at the video, when Li and the deputy seemed to be in an “excited condition,” it was “almost [irreversible] that there was going to be violence.”
According to DeCarlo, it is not uncommon to send a police officer to serve a civil service such as eviction, and such a move is not only a “poor use of resource,” but also less effective than a team effort that incorporates mental health professionals.
DeCarlo further added that, unlike law and medical fields where the American Bar Association and American Medical Association have a universal standard of training, police departments in different municipalities often have different use of force policies and training models with various degrees of effectiveness.
“I would question if it is time in the United States to have a national set of standards for policing, for training … use of force … vetting.” DeCarlo said. “I think that it is time that we have to really take a look at these problems and not keep on trying to handle them in such granular fashion, I think that we have to come together as a country and come up with some meaningful, substantive solutions.”
Asian American and Chinese American communities demand justice for Li
The Alliance of Chinese Americans San Diego issued a statement on their website, with a series of questions on SDPD training and protocol as well as the deputies and officers’ practices in the incident.
“Why did the deputy escalate the situation after Dr. Li had already closed the door and the situation appeared to have returned to normal?” the ACA wrote. “Why was a K-9 Unit at the scene but not a mental health professional? … Under what pretense did police and deputies decide to enter Dr. Li’s residence without a warrant when Dr. Li appeared to pose no imminent danger to the public? Why did the police and deputies force their way into Dr. Li’s residence and forced a confrontation which led to her death before a mental health expert from the county’s PERT team (Psychiatric Emergency Response Team) arrived on the scene?”
ACA also questioned whether the proper training and procedures have been implemented by the sheriff’s department to carry out the eviction process.
According to the California Courts website, California law requires a two-step eviction process: delivering the eviction notice, and no less than five days later, performing a physical eviction if necessary.
ACA claimed that Bunch should have left when he delivered the eviction notice, and the proper procedure would be to wait until the final eviction date before trying to forcibly remove Li.
In addition, ACA demanded an independent investigation into the police shooting death of Li, and the implementation of de-escalation training comparable to the best practices for all law enforcement officers. Additionally, the Alliance called for mandatory training for law enforcement officers to recognize and appropriately deal with people with mental health issues and for the San Diego Police and County Sheriff’s Department to host a town hall meeting to provide full account of the incident, answer community questions and explain the proper protocol and procedure when serving a notice to evict.
According to the San Diego Police Department Policy Manual, deadly force should be used only when all reasonable alternatives have been exhausted or appear impractical.
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Officials ID Woman Shot, Killed by Law Enforcement After Stabbing Officer in Little Italy
Yan Li, 47, was struck at least once by gunfire when three San Diego County sheriff’s deputies and an officer with the San Diego Police Department opened fire
Published March 8, 2022
A woman was shot and killed after she stabbed a San Diego police K9 officer at a Little Italy high-rise condo complex, police say. (March 4, 2022)
Authorities Tuesday publicly identified the woman who was fatally shot by law enforcement personnel when she allegedly stabbed a lawman with a large kitchen knife as court services officers were trying to evict her from her Little Italy condominium.
Yan Li, 47, was struck at least once by gunfire when three San Diego County sheriff’s deputies and an officer with the San Diego Police Department opened fire on her at a residential complex in the 400 block of West Beech Street on Thursday afternoon, SDPD Lt. Matt Dobbs said. Li died at the scene.
A former HOA board member told NBC 7’s Dave summers the resident had behavioral trouble and said a deadly conflict could have been avoided.
The SDPD canine unit officer who suffered the stab wound to his chest was treated at a trauma center and released later in the day. His name has not been released.
The personnel who fired their guns during the encounter have been identified as SDPD Officer Rogelio Medina, and sheriff’s Sgt. Daniel Nickel and Deputies Javier Medina and David Williams.
The events that led to the shooting began around midday, after Li allegedly confronted sheriff’s Court Services Unit deputies with a chef’s knife in hand when they tried to serve her with eviction paperwork. Li then closed her front door, and the deputies called for backup, according to police.
Sheriffs deputies were serving a warrant on a woman at 425 West Beech Street in Little Italy. NBC 7’s Melissa Adan has more on the scene.
“While the deputies were waiting for additional resources, an employee in the building told them the same woman threatened a maintenance worker with a knife the previous day,” Dobbs said. “The deputies attempted to communicate with [Li] for approximately 45 minutes but were unable to gain her cooperation.”
Shortly before 1:30 p.m., the personnel opened the front door to the condominium. At that point, Li allegedly stabbed the dog-handling officer, prompting the burst of law enforcement gunfire.
SDPD homicide detectives are investigating the events surrounding Li’s death, as is standard protocol in cases involving law enforcement shootings in San Diego.
“Investigators are still in the process of reviewing evidence and video footage,” Dobbs said Tuesday afternoon.
Medina, a member of the SDPD Canine Unit, has been with the department for 13 years. Nickel has been employed by the Sheriff’s Department for 29 years, Medina for 23 years and Williams for 14 years.
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ALLIANCE OF CHINESE AMERICANS SAN DIEGO (ACA) ISSUES THE FOLLOWING
STATEMENT ON THE RECENT KILLING OF DR. YAN LI BY POLICE.
JUSTICE FOR DR. YAN LI
On March 3, 2022, Dr. Yan Li, a San Diego resident, and a Yale-educated Ph.D., was fatally shot by San Diego police and sheriff’s deputies at her residence. Her life was ended abruptly and violently by a hail of bullets. She was 47.
The news sent shockwaves through our communities – yet another killing involved police shootings. We are deeply saddened and once again, we ask the question: why did this happen? Did Dr. Li have to die?
Like many immigrants in the San Diego Asian community, Dr. Li came to the United States to pursue advanced education and the American dream. After earning her doctorate from Yale, she went on to have a distinguished career as a biostatistician in both academic institutions and the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Sten Vermund, the Dean of Yale’s School of Public Health, said in an interview that Dr. Li will be “remembered by her colleagues as a very pleasant and hardworking individual, quite a brilliant mind”.
A few years ago, Dr. Li made the decision to call San Diego home. Sadly, this city prematurely became her final resting place.
Late last year, an eviction action against her started in the San Diego superior court. On March 3, a San Diego County sheriff’s deputy went to Dr. Li’s residence to serve the notice to evict. It is important to know that California law, which is posted on San Diego Superior Court’s website, requires a two-step eviction process: (1) deliver the eviction notice, and (2) no less than five days later, perform a physical eviction if necessary.
Dr. Li died on March 3, 2022, the date that the sheriff was instructed to conduct the first step: Delivering the notice to evict.
When Dr. Li opened her door, she had a knife in her hand. We cannot speculate as to why she was holding a knife in her hand. She immediately asked the deputy to show his badge, which the deputy not only ignored but drew his gun and threatened to shoot. In an apparent state of emotional distress and confusion, Dr. Li yelled at the deputy, ‘how do I know you are not an intruder!’, and, ‘call the police!’.
To many people, especially immigrants, it is common to not recognize sheriff’s deputies as law enforcement officers because they wear unfamiliar uniforms. In any case, it is legitimate for anyone in that situation to ask law enforcement officers to identify themselves and show the badge.
What followed that short exchange is difficult to comprehend. In the heavily edited 10-minute video released by the Sheriff’s Department, Dr. Li threw out the notice and then shut the door and retreated to her own room. At this point, the deputy’s task was completed, as the notice had been served. The proper procedure would be to wait until the final eviction date, at which time if Dr. Li had not moved off the premises, the deputy would be authorized to forcibly remove her.
But instead of leaving, the deputy called for backup. Additional officers and a K-9 unit arrived. Without a warrant, the police officers and sheriff’s deputies entered Dr. Li’s residence. When Dr. Li refused to come out of her bedroom, and started yelling ‘this is invasion’, bean bags were fired at her. When Dr. Li finally was forced to come out, she chased the officers with a knife in her hand and stabbed one of the officers in his chest that caused a minor injury. Right then, the two deputies and one police officer fired multiple shots, and instantly killed her.
Dr. Li was dead less than an hour after the deputy’s first arrival. We are heartbroken, not only because a precious life was lost and a brilliant mind is gone, but also because we believe that this tragedy could have been averted. Dr. Li did not have to die. There are more questions than answers from the 10-minute edited video released by the Sheriff’s Department. Dr. Yan Li deserved answers, her family deserves answers, and we deserve answers:
•Why did the sheriff’s deputy refuse to show his badge when it was requested by Dr. Li? Did he follow his training and protocol?
•After the notice was served and Dr. Li retreated into her own room, why did the deputy not leave the premises and wait for the final eviction as directed by California law?
•Why did the deputy escalate the situation after Dr. Li had already closed the door and the situation appeared to have returned to normal?
•Why was a K-9 Unit at the scene but not a mental health professional? According to San Diego Sheriff’s website, a K-9 unit is called to assist with “finding a suspect or assisting during a SWAT standoff; to sniff out hidden drugs and items of evidence in a crime that could generate leads; and to search a designated area fast and more thoroughly.” What is the justification for invoking a K-9 Unit in this case?
•Dr. Li was shot dead less than an hour after her first encounter with a law enforcement officer. Approximately one month earlier, when a police SWAT team responded to a man shooting inside his Rancho Bernardo home, the standoff lasted more than six hours before the suspect was taken into custody, ALIVE. What is the proper procedure for the police and the sheriff’s department when dealing with a mental health crisis?
•Under what pretense did police and deputies decide to enter Dr. Li’s residence without a warrant when Dr. Li appeared to pose no imminent danger to the public?
•Why did police and deputies shoot her with bean bags when she was hiding in her own bedroom and refused to come out?
•Why did the police and deputies force their way into Dr. Li’s residence and forced a confrontation which led to her death before a mental health expert from the county’s PERT team (Psychiatric Emergency Response Team) arrived on the scene?
•The encounter lasted about 45 minutes, yet the edited video released by SDPD is about 10 minutes, what happened in those missing minutes? The community respectfully requests the release of the full, unedited video.
•California’s emergency rental assistance program is set to expire on March 31. Landlords will be able to start filing eviction notices on April 1 for tenants behind on rent due to hardship from the COVID-19 pandemic. Unless a city or county has additional protections in place, pending evictions notices could be staggering. What proper training and procedures have been implemented by the Sheriff department to execute in the eviction process?
As concerned citizens, and members of the signed organizations, we demand transparency with each investigation. We demand answers and justice. Going forward, we call for honest and forthcoming communications and discussions with the community regarding the preventive, de-escalating measures and training that are adopted and will be adopted by the law enforcement to prevent tragic incidents like this from happening again.
We further demand the following immediately:
1.An independent investigation into the police shooting death of Dr. Yan Li.
2.The San Diego Police and San Diego County Sheriff’s Department host a town hall meeting to provide full account of the incident, answer community questions and explain the proper protocol and procedure when conducting to serve the notice to evict.
3.Implementation of de-escalation training comparable to the best practice in our country for all law enforcement officers.
4.Mandatory training for law enforcement officers to recognize and appropriately deal with people with mental health issues.
With a heavy heart and sincere condolences to Dr. Li’s family,
Alliance of Chinese Americans San Diego
CC
Congressman Scott Peters
CA Senator Brian Jones
CA Assemblymember Brian Maienschein
SD County Supervisor Nora Vargas
SD County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer
SD County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher
SD County Supervisor Jim Desmond
SD County District Attorney Summer Stephan
SD County Interim Sheriff Anthony Ray
SD Mayor Todd Gloria
SD Councilmember Joe LaCava
SD Councilmember Jennifer Campbell
SD Councilmember Stephen Whitburn
SD Councilmember Monica Montgomery
SD Councilmember Marni von Wilpert
SD Councilmember Chris Cate
SD Councilmember Raul Campillo
SD Councilmember Vivian Moreno
SD Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera
SD City Attorney Mara Elliott
San Diego Police Chief Dave Nisleit
Update
On March 31, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 2179 to extend the eviction moratorium until June 30, 2022
Supporting Organizations (as of April 7, 2022)
APAPA San Diego
San Diego API Coalition
Mental Health Association for Chinese Communities
Justice for Dr. Yan Li
1441 Manufactured-Home Residents Association
Call BlackLine
We Impact
APAPA-Boston
Chinese Americans Civil Rights Coalition
United Chinese Americans
Huntsville Chinese Association
Austin Chinese-American Network
United Chinese Americans
Ohio Chinese Culture Link, inc.
Nevada US China Cultural Association
San Mateo Metropolitan Lions Club
AAPI Voice
Beijing Association of Northern California
Idaho Chinese Organization
Chinese American equalization association
Chinese chamber of commerce AZ
Pittsburgh Chinese Cultural Center
Hip Sing Association of Philadelphia
San Diego Queer APIMEDA Coalition (QAPIMEDA)
San Diego Pride
San Diego Japanese American Citizens League (SD JACL)
Chinese Benevolent Association
National Association of Asian American Professionals – San Diego Chapter
Association of Chinese Professionals (Atlanta)
Social Advocates for Youth, San Diego (SAY San Diego)
CAF Foundation
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Son of scientist fatally shot by law enforcement during confrontation in Little Italy sues city, county
Yan Li’s son’s federal lawsuit states she was “clearly in a state of mental crisis,” and was “exhibiting signs of being mentally ill” when she answered her condo door while holding a knife
SAN DIEGO — The son of a Yale-trained scientist who was fatally shot by police and sheriff’s deputies inside a Little Italy condo building is suing the city and the county in federal court for wrongful death, citing use of excessive force and other allegations.
Yan Li, 47, was shot after she stabbed a law enforcement officer during a confrontation that started when a sheriff’s deputy attempted to serve her an eviction notice from her fifth-floor unit at Acqua Vista Condominiums on West Beech Street on March 3, 2022.
The lawsuit states that Li was “clearly in a state of mental crisis” and was “exhibiting signs of being mentally ill” when she answered her condo door while holding a knife. The suit also contends that Li had been cooking in her kitchen before the knock at the door.
The son claims in the suit that Li did not threaten the deputy who had come to serve the eviction notice. He alleges that when his mother doubted that the deputy was a law enforcement officer, and suggested he might be an intruder, it indicated “that she was experiencing a mental crisis,” and law enforcement officers should have recognized that.
The complaint states that Li had a history of mental illness but does not further specify any diagnosis.
Less than an hour after she slammed the door, deputies and at least one police officer entered her apartment. She charged at the them with a knife and stabbed an officer, according to investigators and body-worn camera video of the incident. She was then fatally shot.
A San Diego police spokesman declined to comment on the pending litigation, and the Sheriff’s Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The suit, filed Monday, also names as defendants the law enforcement officers at the scene that day.
Li’s son is identified only as D.S. in the lawsuit, which notes that he lives in San Diego. The Union-Tribune reported last year that he was 20 years old when his mother was shot.
The suit sets forth 11 claims, including unlawful detention, excessive force, inadequate training, false arrest or imprisonment and negligence against the defendants. It does not specify a monetary amount the son is seeking if a judge or jury decides in his favor.
The encounter was caught on a camera worn by the sheriff’s deputy trying to serve Li an eviction notice, and cameras worn by other deputies and officers who responded to the scene.
Body-worn camera video shows her opening the door. The deputy hands her the paperwork — then he spots a large knife in her right hand, down at her side. He draws his gun and shouts: “Put the knife down right now or I’m gonna (expletive) shoot.”
He repeats the order. Li shouts back for him to put his gun down. “How could I know you are not intruder?” she asks him. She yells, “Call the police!”
After some yelling at each other, she accuses him of being a fake police officer, throws the paperwork and slams her door.
The video picks up about eight minutes later when Bunch’s supervisor arrives and Li can be heard shouting from behind her closed door. Forty minutes after that, the video resumes with deputies and San Diego police officers with dogs preparing to go into Li’s condo.
They enter. She is in a bedroom, and they fire beanbag rounds at her. She runs from the bedroom, they retreat, and she stabs one of them at her front door. Police and deputies open fire, striking her.
The lawsuit states that after the initial encounter, Li was inside her condo and “was not posing a threat to any person.”
The suit alleges that law enforcement officers used excessive and unreasonable force when they deployed flash bangs and beanbag rounds, and those actions escalated the encounter.
“Rather than deploying force against (Li), the officers should have summoned mental health assistance for (Li) and ensured that there were appropriate personnel on scene to bridge any obvious language barriers,” the suit states.
Li was born and raised in China, and followed her now-ex husband to the United States in 1997. She earned a doctorate from Yale University in 2003 and went on to work as a biostatistician in academic institutions and the pharmaceutical industry, friends and family told the Union-Tribune last year.
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Little Italy Woman Shot By Authorities Was Yale Grad in Mental Health Crisis, Colleagues Say
Yan Li was a graduate of Yale School of Public Health. Former colleagues say she was in the middle of a mental health crisis when she was shot, and they question whether law enforcement did enough to de-escalate the situation
Published March 22, 2022
Editor’s note: This story was updated to correctly identify PERT as the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team.
The ex-husband and former colleagues of a Little Italy woman shot and killed by San Diego law enforcement during an eviction say the woman acted irrationally and law enforcement failed to recognize she was in the midst of a mental health crisis.
San Diego police and deputies opened fire on Yan Li, 47, after she charged them with a knife and stabbed an officer. Their first contact with Li that day, March 3, was when deputies served her with an eviction notice at her condo on W. Beech Street.
Li’s ex-husband, who did not want to be identified by name, told NBC 7 Li struggled with bipolar disorder and sought psychiatric treatment in San Diego and China after her diagnosis in 2010.
He said she once isolated herself inside her W. Beech Street condo in 2020 with no phone or internet and did not answer her mail or acknowledge family members. The two have a son and they remained close up until 2020.
Li earned her doctorate at the Yale School of Public Health.
After seeing the body camera footage of Li’s death released earlier this month, the Dean of the Yale’s School of Public Health, Dr. Sten Vermund, and a fellow Yale educator who was also a mentor to Li, were compelled to write an opinion piece for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
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One year since woman killed in officer-involved shooting in Little Italy
Mar 03, 2023
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — One year after a woman was killed in an officer-involved shooting in San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood, one community group is still trying to get answers.
On March 3, 2022 San Diego sheriff deputies were seen on body camera footage serving Dr. Yan Li with an eviction notice at her Little Italy condo.
Within seconds a deputy noticed she was holding a knife. Li closed the door and that’s when the deputy calls for back up.
While the deputies were waiting for additional resources, an employee in the building told them the same woman threatened a maintenance worker with a knife the previous day, according to the San Diego Police Department.
Eventually deputies and officers forced their way in, saying at that point, she was considered a threat to public safety. Authorities used less lethal rounds first with bean bags.
But investigators said Dr. Li charged at the group and stabbed an officer in the chest. Several deputies and a SDPD officer opened fire, killing her.
Sunny Rickard is a board member of San Diego’s Alliance of Chinese Americans. They’ve been fighting for transparency surrounding Dr. Li’s death.
Rickard says Dr. Li — a scientist and Yale graduate — suffered from mental illness.
Shortly after the shooting, the ACA released a letter. They say it was written by a neighbor who claims he tried to tell law enforcement they needed mental health professionals on scene.
Rickard doesn’t deny Dr. Li was holding a knife that day and later charged at officers, but the organization has requested the release of the full body camera footage of the incident.
“There’s more than 40 min, 45 minutes encounter between Dr. Yan Li and the sheriff’s department. But they only released about 10 min of video,” Rickard said.
Rickard and the group wants to know more about the eviction procedures, and why law enforcement needed to enter the home without a search warrant.
“Why after Dr. Li opened the door, even though she threw this notice away, the purpose of service of eviction is completed,” Rickard said.
She showed ABC 10News a response she received from the sheriff’s department, that said information is being “withheld due to an active criminal investigation.”
Dr. Li’s family filed a legal claim against the city in August, which is typically a precursor to a lawsuit. A city spokesperson said they can’t comment on it.
The District Attorney’s office reviews officer involved shootings. A spokesperson said this case is still under investigation.
“At this point, I think it’s more important for us to seek the justice for Dr. Yan Li,” Rickard said.
Team 10 reached out to the sheriff’s department for an updated comment. A spokesperson said all questions need to be directed to the District Attorney’s office.
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After 1 year anniversary of Yan Li’s death in a police shooting, community wants answers
MARCH 11, 2023
It has been one-year since Dr. Yan Li was shot and killed by police who were meant to simply be serving her an eviction notice at her apartment in San Diego. The community it still looking for answers surrounding her death.
The killing took place on March 3 in San Diego’s Little Italy. According to ABC 10, body camera footage shows a deputy arrive at Li’s condominium that day and serve her an eviction notice once he confirmed her identity.
After he handed her the papers, the deputy saw Li was holding a kitchen knife. He began shouting and swearing at her to put her knife down.
“It’s your notice for — put the knife down right now or I’m going to (expletive) shoot … put the knife down!” Deputy Jason Bunch yelled, according to KPBS.
The San Diego Police Department said another tenant claimed that Li had allegedly threatened a maintenance worker earlier that week. The police maintain they had reason to believe she was a threat to public safety.
More officers arrived on the scene and stormed into the apartment. They shot bean bag rounds at Li who struck one officer with her knife. Several officers then opened fire and killed her.
Community members have long questioned why officers appeared to have escalated the situation.
“They said ‘F’ word. ‘F’ shoot you, ‘F’ shoot you. Is it really necessary to use that word when you serve a notice to evict?” Sunny Rickard, an attorney who also serves as president of the Alliance of Chinese Americans San Diego, told ABC 10 back in April 2022.
A year later, Rickard and several others are still looking for more answers. They would like the police to release the full-length bodycamera video.
“There’s more than 40 min, 45 minutes encounter between Dr. Yan Li and the sheriff’s department. But they only released about 10 min of video,” Rickard told ABC 10 last week.
A spokesperson for the San Diego District Attorney’s Office told ABC 10 that the case is still under investigation.
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San Diego DA Clears 3 Deputies, 1 Officer of Criminal Liability in Deadly Shooting of Woman in Little Italy Condo
May 25, 2023
The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday that it has cleared three sheriff’s deputies and one San Diego police officer of criminal liability in the fatal shooting of a woman at a Little Italy condo complex.
The D.A.’s Office review released Thursday concerns the March 3, 2022, death of 47-year-old Yan Li, a Yale-educated scientist who stabbed a police officer with a kitchen knife, then was shot multiple times by the four lawmen in the doorway of her unit.
Li’s son later sued the city, county and the lawmen involved, alleging they escalated the situation while his mother was in the midst of a mental health crisis.
The shooting unfolded after a deputy, Jason Bunch, served an eviction notice at Li’s home and Li answered the door while holding a knife down by her side.
Body camera footage released by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department shows Bunch point a gun at Li and demand she drop the knife while Li repeatedly states that she doubts the deputy is a real law enforcement officer and yells for someone to “call the police.”
Li closed the door on Bunch and other officers responded less than an hour later.
According to the sheriff’s department, the deputies were told by the condo’s manager and a maintenance worker that Li had threatened them with a knife one day earlier.
“Based on this reported crime, there was a threat to public safety,” the department said. “This is also probable cause to arrest Li for assault with a deadly weapon.”
The deputies and officers entered Li’s apartment with a key provided by condo management and while Li was partially behind a bedroom door and still holding the knife, one of them shot at her several times with a beanbag gun. The D.A.’s review features statements from the lawman who fired the beanbag gun, who states he fired on Li because she did not comply with commands to drop the knife and surrender. Some of the beanbag rounds struck Li, but had no effect, the review states.
Li then ran out of the bedroom toward police and deputies, who backpedaled out of the unit, police said. Upon reaching the front doorway, Li thrust the knife toward the law enforcement personnel, stabbing a dog-handling officer in the chest.
At that point, SDPD Officer Rogelio Medina and sheriff’s Sgt. Daniel Nickel and Deputies Javier Medina and David Williams opened fire on Li, discharging at least a dozen rounds, and she collapsed onto the floor of the hallway.
The D.A.’s Office states that through its review, it was determined that after stabbing the officer, Li “raised the knife over her head and swung it down toward the officer in an apparent attempt to stab him again.”
In a statement, the District Attorney’s Office said, “Given the totality of the circumstances, the peace officers involved bear no criminal state liability for their actions, as they had a reasonable belief that using deadly force was necessary to stop an imminent threat of death or serious injury to the deputies and officers involved.”
The decision clears San Diego police Officer Rogelio Medina and sheriff’s deputies David Williams, Javier Medina and Daniel Nickel of potential criminal charges.
The lawsuit filed by Li’s son alleges that when she was initially contacted, her behavior showed she was “exhibiting signs of being mentally ill” and “clearly in a state of mental crisis.” The lawsuit also states she was holding the knife because she had been cooking when the deputy arrived.
Law enforcement’s entrance into her the unit was “under false pretenses,” the complaint alleges, and at this point, Li “was inside her apartment and was not posing a threat to any person.” It also states that in addition to beanbag rounds, authorities used flashbang rounds and brought a police dog.
“Rather than deploying force against decedent, the officers should have summoned mental health assistance,” the complaint states.
The D.A.’s Office said its review considered a recent finding from the state legislature regarding the effect of mental illness on a person’s ability to follow or understand police commands.
“In this case, it is reasonable to conclude that Li was experiencing a mental health crisis, however, her actions constituted an imminent threat to the peace officers, resulting in her tragic death,” the D.A.’s Office said.
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