A Los Angeles County jury ordered the LAPD to pay $11 million to the family of a man shot and killed by officers during a mental health crisis in South Los Angeles.

The verdict, handed down Wednesday, Sept. 23, found LAPD Southeast Division Officers Stefan Carutasu and Dominique Billew liable in the May 19, 2024, death of Wilbur Blanco, 42, the Korea Daily reported. The jury found Carutasu liable for gross assault and Billew for professional negligence.

The Los Angeles Police Commission had previously determined the shooting was a justified use of force after both officers said they feared for their lives. The jury rejected that conclusion.

Officers responded that day to a report of a man, apparently under the influence of drugs, threatening an elderly person with a weapon. Blanco, who suffered from mental illness, was holding a folding knife when police arrived and ordered him to drop it. According to plaintiff investigative reports reviewed by the Korea Daily, officers fired 11 rounds as Blanco approached them despite having less-lethal weapons available.

Attorneys for Blanco's family argued officers relied solely on verbal commands, had no specific response plan and fired live ammunition in under 20 seconds without attempting to use less-lethal options they carried.

The verdict arrives amid broader scrutiny of how LAPD officers handle encounters with people in mental health crises. Mayor Karen Bass issued Executive Directive No. 21 on Thursday, Sept. 24, ordering an independent evaluation of LAPD policies, training and practices for crisis response. The directive requires the Board of Police Commissioners to hire an outside firm, with recommendations due within six months.

"After the academy, they have spot training that is essentially videos that are played at roll calls," Bass told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday, Sept. 24, calling LAPD mental health training "woefully inadequate."

LAPD officers have fired their weapons at people 16 times in 2026, down from 34 in 2025, according to the Times. Department statistics have shown at least a third of all police shootings in past years involved someone with obvious signs of emotional distress. A 2025 assessment of LAPD's Mental Evaluation Unit found officers were addressing crisis calls with a patrol-first, armed approach, the Westside Current reported.

A separate, similar case is moving through the courts. Yang Yong, who also had a mental illness, was fatally shot May 2, 2024, by LAPD Olympic Division Officer Andres Lopez inside Yang's Koreatown home. Body camera footage showed Lopez fired three rounds eight seconds after the door opened, while another officer stood behind him holding a less-lethal weapon that was never deployed. Three of five Police Commissioners ruled Lopez's use of force justified. A lawsuit in Yang's death is pending.

Of 41 police shootings involving civilians that the California Department of Justice closed over the past five years, none resulted in criminal charges, the Korea Daily reported in a Sept. 10 article. Those investigations took an average of two years and five months to complete.

No public response from the LAPD or the Los Angeles City Attorney's office regarding the verdict or a potential appeal has been reported.