SAN DIEGO — A group of Chinese community activists are protesting an officer and deputy involving shooting of Yan Li in Little Italy.
They are calling for an independent investigation and better de-escalation tactics involving mental health issues.
On March 3, after officers forced their way into her home while serving an eviction notice, Li stabbed one of them.
She was shot and killed. The officer recovered.
The Alliance of Chinese Americans San Diego is protesting the officer-involved shooting death of Yan Li, PhD. They say although she showed a weapon, her death could have been prevented.
Body camera video released by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department shows the Deputy Jason Bunch serving Li with an eviction notice. The deputy tells Li to put the knife down or he will (expletive) shoot.
“Is that kind of language necessary, it definitely escalated the situation. She already has a psychological, emotional and stressful time in the moment,” said Sunny Rickard, president of the Alliance of Chinese Americans San Diego.
She says officers had been called to the Li's home in the past for mental health issues.
“We are deeply saddened and once again we ask the question why this happened, did Dr. Li have to die?” said Rickard.
The body camera video shows Li holding a knife, accusing Deputy Bunch of being a fake police officer, refusing his commands and throwing the eviction notice at him and slams the door.
“She went back into her home, locked her door. It does not appear, does not impose any imminent threat anymore so no justification to escalate the situation,” said Rickard.
The entire incident lasted about 45 minutes but the San Diego Sheriff's Department only released a 10 minute condensed video version.
San Diego police were called for backup.
That night SDPD Homicide Lt. Matt Dobbs said there was a prior incident with Li the day before the shooting.
“One of the employees of the complex said the same female had threatened a male maintenance worker with a knife the previous day,” said Dobbs.
Police still needed to serve the notice. They went back up to Li's apartment and made entry with a manager's key.
Video shows Li is still holding the knife and an officer and deputy fired bean bags at her. That's when Li charges forward with a knife and stabs the K9 handler, prompting 3 deputies and a canine officer to open fire.
When the video was released CBS 8 spoke with retired SDPD SWAT commander Ray Shay who said shooting someone is a last resort.
“Unfortunately, at this point the deputies have run out of options," Shay.
Li’s supporters say law enforcement acted too quickly. The Psychological Emergency Response Team (PERT) was called but officers went into the apartment before they arrived.
Now the Alliance is calling for independent investigation.
“Mental health is not a crime and should not be treated as a crime,” said Rickard.
WATCH CRITICAL INCIDENT VIDEO RELEASED BY SAN DIEGO COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT Viewer discretion advised. Graphic video.
A spokesperson for SDPD issued a statement in response to the Alliance’s news conference:
"We understand the community has questions and concerns about the law-enforcement shooting involving Dr. Li. This is an active investigation.
The investigation and review process for an officer-involved shooting is extremely thorough. When the Homicide Unit completes its investigation, it will be reviewed by the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office to determine if the officers bear any criminal liability for their actions. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department will be assisting in the investigation and will conduct an administrative investigation into their deputies’ discharge of their firearms. The San Diego Police Internal Affairs Unit will conduct an internal investigation into the actions of the San Diego Police Officer. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Attorney’s Office will also be monitoring the investigation. The investigations will be reviewed by the county's Citizens' Law Enforcement Review Board (CLERB) and the City of San Diego's independent Commission on Police Practices (CPP)."
Once the San Diego Police Department homicide units finishes its investigation it will be handed over to the das office to determine whether or not this was a justified shooting.
WATCH RELATED: Bodycam footage released of SDPD K-9 officer injured, woman killed in Little Italy (March 2022)