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The 20-year-old college student, football player, and hero who was shot multiple times by California police after saving lives during an armed robbery attempt at La Victoria Taqueria in San Jose is suing the police department and city for the physical, emotional and financial damages faced.
As previously reported by NewsOnyx, K’aun Green was enjoying a meal at La Victoria Taqueria when an armed, intoxicated man and his friends arrived and threatened everyone with the gun, including Green and his friends.
The Bay Area college student then fought the armed man to take possession of the gun away from him. Once the 20-year-old had the gun in his hand, his attorney said he put the clip back in and did not point the gun inside the restaurant. The college athlete backed out of the restaurant, where officers awaited to de-escalate the situation.
San Jose Police Chief Anthony Anthony Mata claimed as Green was backing out of the restaurant, they yelled for him to “drop the gun.”
Mata said Green didn’t drop the gun, causing one of the officers to shoot Green “at least once” — it was four times. The chief added that the officer didn’t know who initially brought the gun.
The lawsuit claims that Green was not warned and didn’t have the chance to acknowledge the orders.
Green was taken to the hospital after the incident and told NBC News that he was treated “like a criminal” despite saving lives by being handcuffed while in the hospital and prohibited from seeing his family.
“Mr. Green is facing a long and uncertain road to recover the life he once lived, the sport he once enjoyed, and [the] dream he was moving ever closer to making his reality,” Green’s attorneys said in the lawsuit. “The officer’s rash decision to shoot Mr. Green, who had done nothing wrong, has potentially jeopardized the young man’s promising future.”
The future the lawsuit speaks of is Green’s dreams of “playing Division one football and being drafted into the National Football league,” which are in jeopardy due to him needing to recover.
The compensation they are seeking is for medical expenses, income loss, and Green’s wages.