A man carrying a handgun during a fight at a California restaurant was shot by police, but his attorney said he was trying to save himself and the others involved in the scuffle when officers unloaded their guns while his back was turned.
K’aun Green and his friends were eating inside La Victoria Taqueria in San Jose on March 27 when a man came in and threatened them, his attorney Adante Pointer said. The man left the restaurant and returned with two others and a spat ensued.
One of the other men pulled out a gun, according to multiple reports. Green’s attorney said his client was defending himself and trying to take the gun away during the incident, which was captured on video.
“Video shows he was punched first, then the gun was drawn. He defended himself then disarmed the guy who was threatening to shoot him and then the other people in the restaurant,” Pointer told KTVU.
Pointer said Green, a community college football player, tried to shield everyone from further disaster and is hailing him a hero.
At one point the clip fell out of the gun. Pointe said Green put the clip back in, but he never pointed it at anyone.
“And he was pleading with the guy telling him, ‘Look man I don’t want to do anything like this. ‘I’m an athlete. We don’t want any problems,'” Pointer said.
The attorney said Green was backing out of the restaurant, away from the fight when police, already about 800 feet away responding to a homicide, opened fire on the 20-year-old. He was shot multiple times in the abdomen, in the leg and once in the arm.
“He did not know who they were, unknown assailants and essentially picked a fight and then punched him. So when we talk about a fight, this was more of an assault and a battery. My client was the victim from the beginning,” Pointer said.
“He wrestled the gun away from the guy. So what you see here is a young man who sprang into action to defend himself and others and was backing away, creating space between he and the gunman who was trying to take the gun back from him, trying to de-escalate the situation.”
San Jose police officials said surveillance video footage confirmed Green was not the person who brought the gun to the restaurant and that there was a tussle over it. Another man involved in the fight was arrested and charged for being a felon with a firearm.
San Jose Police Chief Anthony Mata said dispatch calls prompted the officers to believe there was an active shooter in the restaurant, and they suspected it was linked to the homicide reported minutes before and less than a mile away.
While San Jose police admit they shot the wrong man, the chief said officers told Green to drop the gun several times before one of them pulled the trigger. Mata said it appears “his back was towards us,” but the agency would have to reexamine the video further to confirm.
Pointer, however, said his client did not even know that police were on the scene. He plans to file a civil against the department on Green’s behalf.
“The police never gave any orders until he got to the door. No one knew police were outside. He was a peacemaker,” Pointer said. “He was backing out the door and at the time the police said drop the gun and not even two seconds later, he was shot. He was never given the time to recognize the police. He was never given the time to drop the gun. And he was the hero.”
San Jose police must release the body camera footage within 45 days of the incident according to law. Mata said the officer who fired his weapon has four years’ experience and was placed on routine administrative leave.
