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A federal search warrant alleges that the man FBI agents fatally shot in north Minneapolis Thursday afternoon was pointing a sawed-off shotgun at a woman’s head when he was killed.
The warrant also identified the man as Chue Feng Yang, and said he was wanted in connection with a January carjacking incident in Ramsey County where a woman allegedly threw a pitbull puppy out of a moving vehicle.
The FBI was serving an arrest warrant on Yang Thursday at a home in the 3700 block of Dupont Avenue North when he refused to surrender, according to a statement from the FBI. Agents, including an FBI SWAT team, surrounded the home and engaged in a standoff with Yang for about six hours, the search warrant said.
Yang eventually emerged from the house tied at the torso to a woman, and was pointing a sawed-off shotgun at the woman’s head, according to the search warrant filed at 7:06 p.m. Thursday. The woman was identified in the document only as “R.G.”
“FBI agents determined that YANG posed an immediate threat to R.G.’s life, and that lethal force was necessary to protect and preserve R.G.’s life,” the search warrant said. “Agents engaged YANG and used lethal force.”
Court records show that Yang was arrested in 2021 while riding a stolen motorcycle with Raylean Chastity Gurneau as his passenger. Gurneau was charged earlier this month with four counts of animal cruelty for allegedly throwing a puppy from a stolen Ford F150 pickup truck during the January carjacking referenced in the federal search warrant filed Thursday. Two men fled that scene on foot and stole other cars at gunpoint to escape, court records show.
The search warrant alleges that Yang was one of those men, and that he pointed a gun at a driver who had stopped in the middle of the roadway, pulled the driver out, and fled in the man’s car. Yang’s bank card was found in the stolen Ford F150, and “individuals” told an FBI agent that Yang was in the truck during the January pursuit, according to the search warrant.
Yang was transported to North Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, and the woman was treated for “an apparent fentanyl overdose,” the warrant said.
Sahan Journal was unable to immediately gather independent eyewitness accounts of the incident. Messages left for people who identified themselves as Yang’s friends or relatives were not immediately returned Thursday.
The search warrant noted that Yang livestreamed the standoff on social media, and that he was shown in the video with a sawed-off shotgun and that “R.G.” also appeared in the video. The document included a still image from the livestream that showed Yang holding the firearm against his shoulder.
Two Facebook Live videos featuring the same man depicted in the search warrant picture were posted to a Facebook profile open to public viewing. In one video, Yang looks into the camera and says the FBI is outside and has him “surrounded.”
“I just want to let y’all know, man, I love y’all,” he says. He then shows a cellphone to the camera and says the FBI is on the phone.
Yang is seen on camera talking to an FBI negotiator on the phone about his refusal to surrender. Yang claims there is a bomb in the house and warns agents not to enter.
At one point, Yang says, “I hope y’all brought body bags.” In another instance, he tells a woman, identified in the search warrant as R.G., that he will shoot himself if FBI agents enter the home. The woman repeatedly begs him to surrender.
Towards the end of the video, Yang and the woman are shown walking out the door while tied together. Yang is armed with a shotgun. They walk out and two shots are heard. The video does not capture images of the shooting itself.
The search warrant said R.G. was seen with a handgun during the livestream, but was not armed when she emerged from the house with Yang. The warrant was filed to retrieve any firearms and alleged bombs possibly left in the home.
The FBI said its inspection division is investigating the shooting in accordance with the agency’s policy.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara and Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt said both of their agencies were assisting at the scene Thursday when the shooting occurred.
“I can confirm that there were no Minneapolis police officers involved in any use of force incident today,” O’Hara said. “But Minneapolis police was present on the periphery assisting, controlling the scene.”
O’Hara said FBI agents were at the home as early as 5 a.m. Thursday.
“Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office was involved in the incident,” Witt said. “I can confirm we’re not the agency that used deadly force, but yes, we were involved in the use of force in this incident.”
Activist and former Minneapolis police officer Lisa Clemons arrived at the scene Thursday after the shooting.
“People are always sad when a life is lost,” Clemons said. “Some people are sad when it’s the police involved or mad when the police is involved. I’m sad no matter who takes the life.”
A bystander video posted on Facebook shows that the shooting occurred at approximately 12:15 p.m. FBI agents armed with rifles and dressed in body armor are seen yelling for the man to put his hands above his head before they open fire from the front lawn.
According to the video: A woman cries out after the shooting and is handcuffed by agents. The FBI SWAT team uses a flash bang or stun grenade as they enter the home after the shooting. Agents perform chest compressions on the man, and an ambulance enters the block roughly five minutes after shots are fired.
According to the search warrant, other people exited the home Yang was in and an RV parked on the property before Yang engaged in the standoff. The warrant said that Yang is a felon who can’t possess a firearm, and that he also had outstanding arrest warrants in Ramsey and Hennepin counties.
According to court records: Yang was convicted of motor vehicle theft in 2021 after being pulled over riding a stolen Yamaha motorcycle. He was sentenced to 19 months in prison, but was given a three year stay, meaning that he was not required to serve prison time unless he violated the terms of his probation. The sentence was a downward departure from Minnesota sentencing guidelines, meaning it was more lenient than typical for such a case.
Yang was previously convicted of illegally possessing a modified firearm in Lino Lakes in 2015. He was sentenced to five years in state prison, court records show.
