K’aun Green, a Contra Costa College football star, recently risked his life to disarm a gunman in a taco shop.
However, this young hero was mistaken for the aggressor and shot by police rather than being met with accolades. Now, the former NFL hopeful is filing a lawsuit against the San Jose Police Department (SJPD) and the city itself.
Last month, the matter went down at La Victoria Taqueria in San Jose, California. After a “highly intoxicated” man and some friends started a fight with Green and others, one of the drunken man’s acquaintances pulled a gun. However, Green was able to wrestle the firearm from him.
After distancing himself from the tussle, Green went to exit the restaurant with the gun pointing upward. Shortly afterward, the SJPD shot the athlete four times.
He was subsequently arrested and taken to a hospital, where he remained handcuffed and was denied contact with his family.
Later, authorities discovered Green wasn’t the aggressor; they tracked down another man involved in the incident and charged him. However, the damage was done “physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially.”
“They treated me like a criminal even though I saved my friends’ life,” Green recalled. “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.”
“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,” the 20-year-old’s attorneys said. “The officer’s rash decision to shoot Mr. Green, who had done nothing wrong, has potentially jeopardized the young man’s promising future.”
While his attorneys say that Green was shot without sufficient warning, Police Chief Anthony Mata alleges that officers told the athlete to drop the weapon “several times” before shooting.
Regardless, the shooting has resulted in Green’s life being turned upside-down.
“I wake up in excruciating pain, tossing and turning. On top of that, I keep seeing [it] in the back of my head,” he revealed. “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.”
“My son is a hero,” Green’s mother K’elea Thompson, added. “My son is a loving, courageous, ambitious young man. He had dreams of pursuing a Division 1 college and going to the NFL. Now, it has been set back from this tragedy and this nightmare.”
Green and his family are filing a civil rights lawsuit against San Jose and its police department.
“The city of San Jose and the [SJPD] have failed to treat my client, K’aun Green, as the person he is, which is a hero,” attorney Adanté Pointer said.
The matter is currently in litigation.
