Rejection of Loan Ends in Death, Shooting of Woman

A Bellflower man, irate that a plea for a loan was rejected by his half-sister and her husband, fatally wounded the husband at the couple’s store in Artesia Saturday and then chased down his half-sister a short distance away, critically wounding her, sheriff’s deputies said.

The man, identified as Sun Ki Baik, 33, fled in a 1977 Oldsmobile, prompting deputies to issue an all-points bulletin for his capture, said sheriff’s spokesman Dean Scoville.

The dead man was identified as Kwang Kim, 49, of Cypress. His wife, Myong Kim, 43, was rushed to Memorial Medical Center of Long Beach where she was listed Saturday night in critical condition with gunshot wounds to the face and chest.

Scoville said Baik went to the Cerritos New Market in the 19100 block of South Norwalk Boulevard Saturday afternoon to ask his half-sister and her husband for an unspecified amount of money. “It wasn’t a unique request,” Scoville said. “He had asked for money before from them.”

The couple, however, turned down the request, apparently enraging Baik, Scoville said.

Investigators said Baik pulled out a small-caliber handgun and fired, fatally wounding Kwang Kim in the face.

His wife ran from the store, but was cornered by her half-brother near a home on 191st Street, a few doors away. There, Baik allegedly shot his half-sister twice, Scoville said.

He then fled in a car with a California license of 470 SXJ, witnesses said.

Scoville said anyone with additional information about the shooting should call sheriff’s detectives.