SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Edited restaurant security and body camera footage released on Monday shows a San Jose police officer shot K'aun Green four times within three seconds of ordering him to drop a gun outside of a downtown taqueria early in the morning on March 27.
For more, stream KCBS Radio now.
The San Jose Police Department identified Officer Mark McNamara as the officer who shot Green, a 20-year-old Contra Costa College football player, at La Victoria Taqueria. San Jose Police Sgt. Christian Cammarillo said McNamara, an officer of four years, "has been placed on routine administrative leave."
San Jose police uploaded edited footage of the shooting from two officers' bodycams, and the altercation preceding it from multiple cameras inside the restaurant, to YouTube on Monday. Police didn't release footage from McNamara's camera.
You can watch the full edited footage of all the videos by clicking here. (Warning: The videos may be disturbing for some viewers)
The restaurant's footage showed Green backing out of La Victoria's front entrance while trying to keep Bryan Carter – the man who brandished his gun after his friend struck Green in the face, and police said was later arrested for possessing a ghost gun as a felon – at an arm's length.
On the officers' footage, one profanely yells at Green to drop the gun as he opens the door, while another profanely yells at him to show his hands. McNamara then shoots Green four times, opening fire within three seconds of the first command.
After the last shot is fired, an officer is heard yelling, "Drop the f–king gun!"
On the silent restaurant security footage, Green is seen raising his hands – within seconds of officers telling him to do so, and just as McNamara opens fire – without the gun in either.
Cammarillo said that McNamara and the responding officers believed a shooter from a nearby homicide could’ve fled to the restaurant, and their goal was "to contact the gunman and stop the potential loss of life to fleeing customers in accordance with their active shooter training."
Adante Pointer, Patrick Buelna and Angel Alexander – the attorneys representing Green in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed against the City of San Jose last month – didn't respond to KCBS Radio's multiple requests for comment prior to publication.
Green sustained bullet wounds to the forearm, abdomen and knee, telling reporters in his first public comments last month that he was unable to walk without a walker. Doctors removed shrapnel and part of his intestines during surgery, and Green said he wasn't sure when he’d be able to play football again.
The 20-year-old and some Contra Costa College teammates attended the San Jose State University spring game on March 26, hours before the shooting. Green said the school was one of the Division I programs recruiting him to play, and he ultimately hopes to play in the NFL.
Green's father said his son told him that he and his friends would attend a campus party that night, and they went to nearby La Victoria early on the morning of March 27. In the suit, Green's attorneys alleged a stranger verbally harassed and attacked him while Green and his friends waited for their food.
Edited security footage from the restaurant shows a person bump into Green just before the footage’s timestamp turns to 3:09 a.m., hitting him in the face four seconds later. Green repeatedly punches the person, driving them into the ground. Carter then brandishes a gun, and people begin clearing out of the restaurant.
As another person holds Carter down and tries to disarm him, Green is seen walking to the restaurant’s front lobby. There, a friend of the person who struck him in the face swings with their right arm after Green pushes their left. Green then punches with his left hand, and places the person who first punched him in a headlock.
Green is then seen tackling that person to the ground, slipping out of his sweatshirt as their friend tries to grab him by it. Then, he helps the person attempting to disarm Carter and grabs the gun.
Green has the gun in his hand just before 3:11 a.m., and he is seen speaking with – and backing away from – the person who first punched him. Carter then approaches Green about a minute later, and Green keeps him at an arm's length as he backs out of the restaurant.
When the restaurant door swings open seconds before 3:12, according to police and restaurant timestamps, four officers on the taqueria’s front porch have their guns drawn. McNamara then starts shooting seconds later.
The San Jose Police Department’s homicide unit and the Santa Clara District Attorney's Office are still investigating the shooting.
LISTEN to KCBS Radio
FAVORITE KCBS Radio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Related
