LA Riots in Koreatown.

[apbrian112]

+1, my dad (i'm korean) went to my uncle's store armed with his S&W pistol, they essentially camped out on the roof... i was really young then and didn't comprehend the reality of it since i didn't live right in k-town (lived in monterey park, not too many african americans, mostly chinese/asian and mexican) and only went by what i saw on TV. i would have done the same thing (go protect my property), i wouldn't have fired aimlessly (rounds are expensive) but i would have definately gone to protect what was mine, especially since the PD was overwhelmed at the time.

shoot, i own a pizza shop in k-town and even though there's nothing to steal unless they want some flour and toppings. i'd still head down here to make sure nothing happened. i work hard and my mom worked hard to purchase the building that my pizza shop is in, just to let some looters decide that they want to smash my windows in, just because... i'd be armed to the teeth and just camp out on my rooftop.

stuff like that doesn't make sense to me (the looting)... the looters in the video make me sick... animals, every last one of them.

[Diabolus]

Looked like in that situation there weren't any innocent bystanders. Looked like a free for all and unless someone was mentally disabled, I think they knew they should have stayed home. I applaud the store owners and wonder if it would be better in that situation to have one gun loaded with non-lethal ammo of some type and just blast everyone holding any looted property. I'd sure feel better knowing someone had to feel a little pain to loot my store and get away with it.

[bigmike82]

"but for the owners to risk their lives for shoes is insane."
I disagree. I'm a firm believer in the philosophy that my sh...stuff is worth someone else's life. Their actions were more than appropriate given the circumstances.

[Matt C]

I wonder if we watched the same video. I viewed an innocent older lady that was panicking, the Reporter and the Cameraman. I am sure there are dozens of other people in the range of one of those bullets that stayed home to protect themselves. To be killed by the owners of a shoe store indiscriminately shooting at people for stealing shoes would be a travesty.

I’m in no way condoning the acts of the perpetrators, but for the owners to risk their lives for shoes is insane.

They were risking their lives to suppress a riot and defend their livelihood, not prevent shoe theft. I doubt they normally shoot shoplifters.

Also, you can't see in that video what they are shooting at, we know that at least at one point they were shooting at gang members who were shooting at them. The other shots looked aimed and could have been at a pile of dirt for all we know.

[apbrian112]

I wonder if we watched the same video. I viewed an innocent older lady that was panicking, the Reporter and the Cameraman. I am sure there are dozens of other people in the range of one of those bullets that stayed home to protect themselves. To be killed by the owners of a shoe store indiscriminately shooting at people for stealing shoes would be a travesty.

I’m in no way condoning the acts of the perpetrators, but for the owners to risk their lives for shoes is insane.

i thought that was at 2 different locations... the shootings were happening at the shoe store, and the old lady was in the parking lot of a supermarket that she had been going to for years.

[tyrist]

Camera does'nt show who they were shooting at or why....so who knows if they were or not.

Command staff had all the police staged at the RTD/Metro station and would'nt allow them on the streets for reasons...well for some reason nobody understands.

[Solidmch]

They were risking their lives to suppress a riot and defend their livelihood, not prevent shoe theft. I doubt they normally shoot shoplifters.

Also, you can't see in that video what they are shooting at, we know that at least at one point they were shooting at gang members who were shooting at them. The other shots looked aimed and could have been at a pile of dirt for all we know.

It could have been at others armed with knives, Bats, or guns. These guys were very brave. Looks to me they owned a slice of the American Dream and they wanted to keep it.

[Solidmch]

They are shooting at people to protect shoes. What if they miss and hit someone who is innocent?

I don't know... its one thing to defend your property because someone is trying to burn it down, but to shoot at people looting shoes is bizarre.

No one looting is innocent. I would aquit these guys in a heartbeat. I would be that one hold out juror. These guys would not go to jail, or be convicted.

[BigMac]

There is nothing to aquit. When you read the CA code for what constitutes a justified homicide, riot supresion is covered.

[wksun88]

Good, they should have shot all the looters to teach them a lesson.

[Diabolus]

They were risking their lives to suppress a riot and defend their livelihood, not prevent shoe theft. I doubt they normally shoot shoplifters.

Also, you can't see in that video what they are shooting at, we know that at least at one point they were shooting at gang members who were shooting at them. The other shots looked aimed and could have been at a pile of dirt for all we know.

[Ech0Sierra]

It sorta made me think about a zombie movie when I watched it.

Dawn of the Dead, first 15 min., the bald guy w/ a 92FS randomly shooting poeple, then gets hit with an ambulance.

[M. Sage]

Some of you need to take a step back and a deep breath and make sure that posts in this thread don't violate any rules.

Especially this one:

f)No posting information that can be construed to be illegal, firearm
related or not.

Okay? Thanks.

[dfletcher]

It's impossible to tell from the video.

I lived there from 89 to 93, had an apartment on the corner of Crescent Heights & Sunset. We literally went up to the top of the building, looked southeast & watched the smoke & fires. Some friends owned property downtown, lost some $$$ but in the end the only areas that really suffered were downtown. As Cowboy mentioned, it was an unusual environment. Parts of the city were burning & there was much shooting (remember LAFD being shot at when they responded to a fire?) and other parts, mostly above & west of Fairfax, was like a ghostown. There was a curfew, but I do recall driving about quite a bit with no problem.

Much was made in the local press of the Korean shop owners defending themselves with considerable success. The Harlins shooting earlier and appallingly light sentence handed down were I think, these many years later, a generally overlooked important factor.

[Matt C]

I don't want to get in a pissing match here, but two guys with pistols aren’t going to quell any riot.

But the fact is they did, no one burned these guy's (Korean's) shops down, while everything around them burned. They may not have suppressed the entire riot, but they suppressed it where they were enough to keep their business intact.

Insurance may cover the goods in the store and may even pay for the building to be rebuilt (or not) but most places that burn down have a hard time recovering anyway, insurance never pays enough to replace everything nor does it usually cover lost business while a new building is constructed AFTER the claim is settled (which could take years).