Shooting of Kuanchung Kao

Backgrounds

Kuanchung Kao (1963/1964 – April 29, 1997 (aged 33); Chinese: 高寬重; pinyin: Gāo Kuānzhòng) was a Taiwan-born microbiologist working as a quality control engineer. He was married to Ayling Wu, a registered nurse, and they had three children together.

Officer Mike Lynch was the first police respondent on the scene. Officer Jack Shields was the second respondent, a 25-year veteran Rohnert Park public safety officer (the combined police and fire departments) at the time of the shooting in 1997. He was promoted to police lieutenant soon after joining the force, and was later promoted to fire commander after serving more than twenty years as a police lieutenant. However, he was demoted to patrol officer after a year as fire commander after he was found guilty of falsifying time cards for other employees.

Shooting

On the night of April 28, 1997, Kao was drinking at the Cotati Yacht Club in celebration of a new job. While at the bar, he was involved two scuffles with at least one other bar patron. In the first, he corrected a patron by stating he was Chinese, not Japanese, to which the other patron responded by saying "You all look alike to me." The bartender, who was familiar with Kao, separated Kao from the other patron by seating them at opposite ends of the bar.

The same patron later approached Kao and whispered some inflammatory words, instigating a larger brawl. During that brawl, Kao was stabbed over the eye with a dart. Cotati police were called to restore order, and Kao was sent home in a taxicab following the intercession of the bartender, who said the bar fight was inconsistent with his regular behavior.

Upon arriving home, Kao did not enter his house but instead stayed outside, crying "Neighbors, please help me!" Postmortem tests later showed Kao's blood alcohol level was 0.23%, well over the legal limit of impairment in California. The disturbance woke other neighbors, who called 911 to report a drunken disturbance in their neighborhood at 2:11. According to witnesses, Kao retrieved a long wooden stick comparable to closet rod from a recreational motorhome vehicle parked in his driveway at around this time.

Four minutes later, the police arrived on the scene. Officer Lynch stopped his patrol vehicle close to Kao in what witness felt was an attempt to scare him, but Kao responded by hitting the patrol car with the stick with sufficient force to puncture the radiator. After backing the car away, Lynch remained in the car and waited for backup. Almost simultaneously, Officer Shields arrived, using a spotlight on Kao and exiting the vehicle, despite Lynch advising Shields to remain in the car. Shields would later testify that he left the car to find Ayling Wu.

Lynch and Shields were in uniform and arrived in marked patrol cars with their sirens on but an eyewitness later stated neither of them identified themselves as police officers. When the officers arrived, Kao's wife, Ayling Wu, was outside and trying to calm Kao down and grab the stick. Shields commanded Wu to step away from Kao, and once she had retreated, Shields shot Kao once. Shields would later testify that Kao charged him with the stick raised over his head in a striking posture, closing to within 3 feet (0.91 m). However, four separate eyewitnesses would contradict Shields's testimony, saying that Kao was never closer to Shields than 10 feet (3.0 m). Wu, a trained medical professional, was physically restrained from approaching Kao after he was shot. There are conflicting reports about whether the officers attempted to perform CPR on Kao after he was shot,

Kao's body remained in the driveway until noon, and his 5-year-old daughter witnessed part of the disturbance.

Shields later testified that he feared for his life, since Kao was waving the stick in what was termed a "threatening martial arts fashion." Kao never studied martial arts. A warrant, served the next day on Kao's house, had police comb through the house for evidence of martial arts training or paraphernalia. None was found.

Sonoma County District Attorney

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Department conducted an investigation of the shooting and filed a 600-page report with the Sonoma County District Attorney's office in May 1997. On June 19, 1997, Sonoma County District Attorney Michael Mullins decided not to file criminal charges against Officer Jack Shields, concluding that Officer Shields had acted in self-defense. The California Attorney General's office investigated whether the decision not to prosecute was an abuse of discretion, concluding in a March 24, 1998 letter from Dan Lungren that deadly force was justified.

Rohnert Park

On August 5, 1997, the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety ruled Officer Shields acted in accordance with departmental policies and procedures for the use of deadly force.

Federal Bureau of Investigation

The United States Attorney in San Francisco requested an FBI investigation of the shooting shortly after it occurred, on the suspicion that Kao's civil rights had been violated through the use of excessive force, which potentially could have led to a life sentence. Senator Barbara Boxer met with Ayling Wu and Nancy Wang on October 3, 1997; following the meeting Boxer stated she would relay concerns to the US Attorney. On January 28, 1998, US Attorney Michael Yamaguchi declined to file criminal charges against Officer Shields, citing insufficient evidence that Kuanchung Kao's civil rights were violated.

Civil suit

On October 1, 1997, John Burris and the Asian Law Caucus filed an administrative wrongful death claim, followed by the February 2, 1998 filing of a US$50 million federal suit against Rohnert Park, its Police Department, and the two officers involved. The suit was settled out-of-court for US$1 million in 2001 with no admission of liability.

Aftermath

The shooting of Kuanchung Kao mobilized Asian-American activists to protest the perceived racial factors in his killing. Days after the August 1997 Rohnert Park investigation cleared Shields, on the 100-day anniversary of Kao's death, a vigil was held in San Francisco in part demanding a new investigation.

Activist pressure along with a growing trend of fatal police shootings in Sonoma County culminated in a United States Commission on Civil Rights investigation, which held a public hearing on February 20, 1998. Police and police supporters packed the meeting, forcing those with different viewpoints to stand outside the meeting room.

Kao's widow Ayling Wu and their three children moved to Orange County by 1998. Most of the court settlement was overtaken with lawyer fees and moving expenses. Wu was forced to sell the family dog, a yellow American Mastiff named Nala, which was purchased as a puppy by Kao for their daughter several years prior. Wu received temporary support with childcare from the family nanny, who assisted with the moving transition to Orange County for several months. All of Kao and Wu's extended families reside in Taiwan, and maintained infrequent contact after Kao's death. Following the departure of the family nanny after the move south, Wu fell into a period of extreme depression and experienced suicidal thoughts, while struggling to make ends meet while also attempting to raise the children on her own. Wu's condition gradually improved over the years and continues to lead a moderately successful career as a Director of Nursing, but never remarried or fully recovered from the trauma and isolation. The twin boys currently attend San Diego State University and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, pursuing kinesiology and forestry, hoping to eventually practice physical therapy and smokejumping.

Jack Shields retired from the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety in 2000 with over 30 years of service and moved to Hamlin, Texas, later becoming the mayor of Hamlin.

Mike Lynch left the Department of Public Safety within one year of the shooting, and was last known to be working in a local pet shop.