Robbery turned fatal shooting, police still looking for answers after 27 years

What began as a liquor store robbery, ended as a fatal shooting.

On January 21, 1997, around nine o'clock at night, Baltimore County Police arrived at Selma Liquors in Arbutus.

There they found 46-year-old Yang Koo Yoon, the store's owner, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Yoon was taken to a local hospital where he later died.

His son spoke to WMAR-2 News shortly afterward, mourning his father.

WMAR-2 News Archive

According to police, Yoon had been working in the store's basement when two male suspects wearing black ski masks entered the store with the intent to rob it.

When he heard the commotion, police say Yoon ran upstairs and confronted the suspects who had been holding Yoon's wife and mother-in-law, who had been manning the register, at gunpoint.

WMAR-2 News Archive

Yoon was shot after a struggle with the suspects.

A witness reported seeing the two suspects flee in a small, green car.

Police say that a witness admitted to possibly seeing a third suspect driving the getaway car.

Courtesy: Baltimore County Police

Another witness who saw the suspects before the robbery was able to provide police with a detailed description of one of the suspects, which led to this composite sketch being completed.

Police say that this incident could have also been linked to similar robberies and murders of Korean store merchants located in the same relative area around Baltimore City that occurred around the same time.

Anyone with information about this case may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $2,000, and is advised to call Baltimore County's Unsolved Case Division at 410-887-3943.