Been hearing from a lot of people about this one... Here is the situation, as I understand it. On Monday, December 31st, 25-year-old Mike Cho was shot and killed by police officers outside a convenience store in La Habra, California: La Habra police-shooting victim identified.
There were initially several conflicting accounts about the events that took place, the number of shots fired by the police (anywhere between 1 and 10, depending on the source), and what type of weapon Michael allegedly had in his possession.
According to police, Cho was armed and apparently "made a motion as if he were going to attack" officers with an unidentified weapon (later said to be a tire iron)—which one friend of Mike's tells me, is "complete bullshit."
Also, no news reports make note of Mike's physical condition. According to one friend, he apparently had a leg condition and walked with a limp. Would he actually be able to charge at police? And did they really have to use deadly force, guns drawn, to respond to a grafitti call?
There are some photos from surveillance video of the altercation in this Korean news story here, but it doesn't look like Mike is attacking anybody. Something is seriously sketchy here. A few more details were made public by police at a community meeting today, but there are still a lot of questions about what really went down: La Habra police chief says shooting victim moved as if to attack an officer. People want answers.
According to a friend, Michael was a recent graduate of UCLA and had been taking some time off to work on his portfolio for graduate school. He was a good friend, with a bright future ahead of him.
I'm told there will be a vigil in remembrance of Mike Cho on Saturday, January 5 at 5:00pm at the intersection of Whittier Blvd. and Walnut St. in La Habra where he was killed. People will be there as long as they can. If you are in the area, I'm sure his friends and family would appreciate your support.
*
