Woman in December police shooting treated for 'superficial injury,' authorities say

The mother of a man shot and killed by Minneapolis police in December suffered "superficial" injuries in the incident, the state's investigative agency confirmed Monday.

The revelations came after court documents filed in the December officer-involved shooting death of Chiasher Vue showed that authorities sought medical records to determine whether his mother was injured in the incident.

A search warrant affidavit filed Monday for medical records at North Memorial Health Hospital said an investigator spoke with the woman, Mai Yang, on Jan. 28 and "learned that she suffered an injury to her right shoulder from either a piece of shrapnel, a projectile or some other object related to the officers firing toward the residence."

Yang was in the family's home in the 3100 block of Thomas Avenue N. on Dec. 15 when her son and Minneapolis police exchanged gunfire.

Vue's family had said from the beginning that Yang was injured in the incident. Police had previously said she wasn't. However, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) issued a statement Monday saying Yang was treated at the hospital for a "superficial injury" the agency learned about only after executing the search warrant on her medical records.

"Based on what the BCA has learned through our investigation, the woman was transported for a condition unrelated to the officer involved shooting," the BCA statement said. "While at the hospital she was also treated for a superficial injury. … The BCA did not have information about a superficial injury until we received medical information in response to the warrant."

The BCA also previously said Yang was not harmed.

Family members had reported Yang's age as 70, while court documents said she turned 68 in late December.

Other details about the case or Yang's medical situation is private data while the investigation is pending, the BCA said.

Police said they would not comment on the details of the affidavit since the BCA investigation is ongoing.

Yang reported being treated at North Memorial for four to five days, according to the affidavit.

An investigator sought Yang's medical records "in order to understand more fully the extent of her injury and corroborate her statement that it occurred during the incident with Minneapolis Police," the affidavit said.

Police tried to talk Vue, 52, into surrendering, but he appeared at the front door with a gun and fired at officers. Eight officers returned fire. A ninth officer fired a device designed to incapacitate suspects without causing serious harm, the BCA has said.