Photo: Getty Images
Twenty-year-old K'aun Green remained in the hospital Thursday (March 31) after being shot by police who mistook him for a gunman inside of a California restaurant.
Green's attorney Adante Pointer said K'aun is a "hero" who stopped a shooting at the La Victoria restaurant early Sunday (March 27) before a San Jose police officer opened fire on the former high school football champion.
"The police yelled 'drop the gun,' and without giving my client a second to understand it was the police, or turn around and see what was going on, or even to drop the gun, he was shot multiple times," Pointer told NBC Bay Area.
Green suffered four gunshot wounds: one in the abdomen, twice in the arm, and one the leg, Pointer said, adding that police handcuffed him to his hospital bed and declared him a suspect for days, denying access to his family and relatives.
San Jose Police Chief Anthony Mata said that the police-involved shooting took place about one block from the scene of a homicide that involved a gun. People running away from the restaurant told officers there was a fight that involving a gun happening inside the restaurant, leading police to believe an "active shooter scenario [was] unfolding or about to unfold," Mata said.
The department shared chaotic surveillance footage which showed the gun had "changed possession more than once" while a physical altercation involving multiple people took place on the floor. The footage also shows Green wrestling the gun away from others as the restaurant cleared out.
Green was "minding his business," his attorney said, and the 20-year-old did not know the people involved in the fight personally.
Mata said Green ignored multiple commands to drop the gun as he backed out of the door of the restaurant, though bystander footage disputes that.
The bystander video was taken from a short distance of the scene and shows there were about four seconds that passed between Green walking out of the door and police opening fire. Officers cannot be heard telling Green to drop the gun.
Mata said there will be a "community briefing" where bodycam footage and other video is released will take place in the coming weeks.
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