A California man who was shot multiple times by police after disarming a gunman is now suing the department and the city.
Attorneys for K’aun Green said he jumped into action to save his life and everyone else involved in a fight at La Victoria Taqueria in San Jose on March 27 and was met with police gunfire while exiting the restaurant.
Department officials said they thought Green was connected to a homicide that happened less than a mile away. Video footage from the restaurant later revealed Green had just wrested the gun away from another man.
Green is suing San Jose and the San Jose Police Department for monetary and punitive damages.
His attorneys said he is a “hero” whose football career is now in limbo because of his injuries. Green was shot twice in the arm, once in the knee and abdomen. His legal team said some of his intestines had to be removed, and he had to get multiple surgeries.
Green is a football player at a junior college allegedly being courted by Division 1 universities. He has hopes of making it to the NFL.
“Mr. Green is facing a long and uncertain road to recover the life he once lived, the sport he once enjoyed and dream he was moving ever closer to making his reality,” his attorneys said in the complaint. “The officer’s rash decision to shoot Mr. Green, who had done nothing wrong, has potentially jeopardized the young man’s promising future.”
According to the federal lawsuit obtained by Atlanta Black Star, a fight erupted in the restaurant after a man “showing signs of being highly intoxicated” punched Green in the face. One of the man’s friends pulled a gun on Green and others in the group, but Green wrestled the gun away.
A third man joined the two alleged attackers, and the three attempted to retrieve the gun from Green, according to the complaint. Green was heading to the restaurant’s front door when one of the men grabbed his clothes.
He wiggled his way out of the man’s grasp, stepped back, propped the door open with his left hand, and held the gun pointing up in the air with his right arm as he backed out of the restaurant.
The lawsuit alleges an officer shot Green four times without warning. They allege the police shot Green so fast he had no time to acknowledge their presence and respond to any orders.
San Jose Police Chief Anthony Mata told KTVU that the officers told Green to drop the gun several times before one of them pulled the trigger.
Green was arrested and taken to the hospital, where he remained handcuffed and was prohibited from seeing his family, the complaint alleges. After the police realized that they had shot the wrong man, another man involved in the fight was arrested and charged for being a felon with a firearm.
“They treated me like a criminal even though I saved my friends’ life,” he told NBC News, adding: “It’s still surreal to me, it just hurts to know I can’t play football this year. I’m going to try my hardest to make a comeback.”
Green’s legal team said the incident has “physically, mentally, emotionally and financially” hurt the young football player. They want the city and police department to compensate Green for his wages and other income loss and medical expenses. The court will later decide the total amount of damages.
Wiping away tears, Green told told KGO-TV he willed himself to survive. “I try to stay strong for my mom and my pops, my whole family. I refused to die.”
Adding, “I wake up in excruciating pain, tossing and turning. On top of that, I keep seeing in the back of my head. I see my hands. I keep looking at my hands, and there was blood all over them. I keep seeing it. I keep seeing it. I keep seeing it.”
