DENVER -- Denver prosecutors have filed first-degree murder and assault charges against a downtown sushi bar owner who gunned down a man in his crowded eatery last month.

Yan De Yang, 40, owner of Chopsticks and Sushi Restaurant, at 1630 Welton St., told police he shot in self-defense when a man began choking him on Oct. 22, according to a police report. Yang said he had been getting death threats after he threw the man out of his restaurant a week earlier for being drunk.

But a restaurant worker told police the dispute was over two men pressuring Yang to pay off a debt, while the owner insisted he had paid back the money.

Instead of calling police about the threats, Yang put a .357 magnum revolver in his pocket along with 13 extra bullets, according to the police report.

During the confrontation with the two men, the restaurant worker told police after she heard the first shot, she saw Yang pointing at the man on the ground. She then heard two more shots.

Lloyd Running Bear, 29, who was shot repeatedly in the chest, died at a local hospital.

Yang was charged with first-degree murder, which requires proof of premeditation, and first-degree assault in which a handgun is used to inflict serious bodily injury.

Asked about Yang's claim that he acted in self-defense, Denver District Attorney spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough said, "Those are the kinds of issues that we let juries decide."

Yang is being held in jail without bond.

Yang, who uses the first name Dave, told police that three men had come by the restaurant looking for him the day before the shooting. Yang was out but his wife told him that the men "were angry and were making threats about killing" him, the police report stated.

On the day of the shooting, Yang said a man left a threatening message on his cell phone saying "people would be coming to the restaurant to kill him," the police report stated. Yang told police he armed himself with a handgun he keeps at the restaurant.

As Yang was working on his laptop in the restaurant that afternoon, he said the two men entered and attacked him. Yang told police the tall man choking him was Running Bear. He said a second man, described as an east Indian male, grabbed him from behind.

Yang told police he got his gun out and shot the man choking him. The second man ran from the restaurant.

Yang, who is 5-foot-2, 140 pounds, said he feared "they would kill him."

Running Bear, who was 6 feet tall and 220 pounds, had a history of arrests in Denver on charges of assault, car theft and clashing with police. In April 2009, he was convicted of assault and disturbing the peace. He was also convicted in 2007 of refusing a police order, and in 2002 for assault and disturbing the peace.

The female restaurant worker told investigators that when the east Indian man began talking to Yang, the owner insisted, "I paid your uncle the money." The east Indian man then called someone on his cell phone and handed the phone to Yang, who spoke with whoever was on the other end.

After the worker entered the kitchen, she heard Yang yell, "Do not intimidate me" and "Do not touch me." She stepped back into the dining room and saw Yang yelling at the "tall man."

The worker stepped back into the kitchen and heard a gunshot, according to the police report.

She looked back into the dining room and saw Yang "slightly bent over and pointing toward the ground." She then heard two more shots and saw the east Indian man fleeing the restaurant.

A man eating lunch told police he heard a "pop" and looked up to see a short man extending his arm and he heard several more "pops."

After the shooting, the customer recalled Yang saying, "He is a big guy. He came after me."

Asked if police were investigating whether Yang had problems with loan sharks or gambling debts, Denver police spokeswoman Loretta Beauvais said, "The investigation is ongoing. I'm sure everything is being explored."

She said police have interviewed the second man who was with Running Bear. Police consider him a witness and have not released his name.