Police Role Disputed in Korean Deaths
August 26, 2005
The Korean American Association of SF & Greater Bay Area (KAASF) and the Korean Community Center of the East Bay (KCCEB) are organizing the Korean community over the unnecessary shooting deaths of two Korean men by Alameda County sheriffs.
The Aug. 11 incident involved 61-year-old Kwuang Tae-Lee, who was holding a knife during a domestic altercation at a home on Innisbrook Lane at about 11:40 p.m.
Dublin police say when Tae-Lee didn’t drop the knife, officers fired once, injuring him. He turned toward the officers, who shot him four more times. He died immediately.
One of the bullets went through a door of the bedroom where homeowner Richard Kim was, grazing his eye and his temple and severing an artery in his arm. He was taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where he died days later.
Tae-Lee, brother-in-law of Kim, did not speak English and was visiting the family from Korea with his wife, said Jee Kim, the homeowner’s widow who witnessed the incident.
Jee Kim told the Korea Times that Tae-Lee was “very drunk” and therefore couldn’t hear the two police ordering him to drop the knife.
“It is of the opinion of the wife who witnessed the event that the police used excessive force and did not need to kill both men,” stated Executive Director of KCCEB Hun Kim. “[T]here are questions that need to be raised [about] the officers’ conduct, language sensitivity, cultural awareness and restraint in the use of deadly force,”
Yang Lim Oh, widow of Tae-Lee, was crying as she told a recent press conference: “This is totally unfair. I lost my husband for no reason. Please let my husband come back to me.”
Jonathan Bae, attorney for Jee Kim, called the shootings “an unnecessary tragedy.” He said Jee Kim had not felt threatened by what was happening in the house the night of the shooting.
David Kim, vice president of KAASF added, “This is a tragedy for the family members of those killed and we as a community have come together to grieve alongside Mrs. Kim and her family as well as to raise concerns on behalf of the community.”
Both organizations have formed a broad coalition of community members to urge a public and transparent investigation.
DETAILS: Hun Kim, Executive Director, Korean Community Center East Bay Area (510) 547-2662 ext. 206, hunkim@kcceb.org.
David Kim, Vice President, Korean American Association of SF/Greater Bay Area (415) 819-2008, gotocue@yahoo.com.
Hong IK Kim, President, Korean American Association of SF/Greater Bay Area (415) 252-1346.
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