Mental fitness test for suspect in killing of B.C. RCMP Const. Shaelyn Yang

VANCOUVER — A judge has ordered a mental fitness assessment for the man accused of killing British Columbia RCMP officer Const. Shaelyn Yang more than three years ago.

Jongwon Ham, who appeared in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver wearing a grey suit and black-rimmed glasses, is charged with first-degree murder in the October 2022 killing of Yang.

Ham’s judge-alone trial had been scheduled to start on Monday, but it has been adjourned pending the outcome of the test to determine if he is fit to stand trial.

Yang was stabbed to death on Oct. 18, 2022, when she tried to speak to a man sheltering in a tent in Broadview Park in Burnaby, B.C.

B.C.’s police watchdog said the man in the tent was shot and wounded by Yang during the altercation.

In a statement in December 2022, the office said its chief civilian director determined there were no reasonable grounds to believe an officer committed an offence in the incident.

RCMP have said Yang was a mental health and homeless outreach officer who had joined the police three years before her death.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 12, 2026.

The Canadian Press