‘Hero’ shot by police after appearing to disarm gunman suing California officers, city

His lawyers said Thursday that a high school soccer champion shot by police after he ordered the disarming of a gunman at a California restaurant sued the city and the department. police.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, an attorney for K’aun Green, 20, alleges that authorities opened fire without giving him a chance to comply with an order to put the gun down after “himself” heroically defended himself and everyone in the restaurant” from the gunman.

The lawsuit claims that “Green’s dream of playing in the First Division is at stake. “He faces a long and uncertain road to regaining the life he once enjoyed.”

According to the suit, Green was stabbed in the stomach, one leg and one arm. The suit said part of his intestines had been removed, as well as multiple shrapnel.

Green said at a press conference on Thursday that he was in pain and “hurt from the inside out” according to the San Jose Mercury News.

“They treat me like a criminal even though I saved my friends’ lives,” he told reporters, adding: “It’s still bizarre to me, it just breaks my heart to know I can’t play football this year. I will do my best to be able to come back. ”

A San Jose police spokesman and a spokesman for the city attorney’s office declined to comment on Thursday’s lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, Green and several friends were waiting at a San Jose pub on March 27 when a “stranger” began harassing and punching him in the face. As Green tried to defend himself, a friend of the attacker pointed a gun at Green and other customers, the suit said.

Green snatched the weapon from the gunman and moved toward the front door of the pub as the three chased after him, trying to retrieve the pistol, the lawsuit said. Mr. Green propped them up with one hand while simultaneously keeping the gun out of their grasp in his left hand.

As Green backed up through the restaurant’s front door, a San Jose police officer opened fire four times. The lawsuit claims that none of the officers warned that Green would be shot, nor did they give him time to comply with orders authorities had supposedly been given to lay down his weapons.

Restaurant security video released by authorities last month showed a chaotic scene, with people throwing punches and Green appearing to grab a gun from someone. In the bystander’s video of the shooting, about 4 seconds pass between the moment Green opens the front door of the pub and when a police officer shoots him.

The lawsuit claims Green remained handcuffed to his hospital bed after the shooting and was restrained by his family until March 29.

San Jose Police Chief Anthony Mata told reporters that officers responding to the fight believed they were reacting to an “active shooting scenario” that involved a nearby murder.

Authorities later concluded that someone else had reached the restaurant with a gun, but when the officer saw Green backing out of the pub, he didn’t know it, Mata said. The officer only knew that “the man with the gun did not lower the gun when clearly ordered to him.”

Green is a three-time state soccer champion who played quarterback at an Oakland high school, the suit said. At the time of the shooting, he was a linebacker at Contra Costa College who had won first-team all-time PAC-7 conference titles last season, according to the school’s athletics program. .

at Blogtuan.info – Source: nbcnews.com – Read the original article here