Man shot by Phoenix Police officer sues city in $50 million lawsuit

PHOENIX (FOX 10) -- A man shot by Phoenix Police officers is suing the city for $50 million.

On Monday morning, Edward Brown held a news conference, and new body camera video of the incident has been released.

The incident happened in August 2018 near 23rd and Glenrosa. Officers were at the scene in response to a drug call in an alleyway when Brown took off. In the video, viewers can see officers re-positioning Brown and clearly concerned about getting blood on their uniform, but the questionable tone of responders opens the door to new questions about police violence.

Phoenix Police officials say the encounter involved a man reaching for an officer's weapon, forcing him to open fire. As a result of the shooting, Brown, 35, was paralyzed. Brown did have a felony warrant out for his arrest, and says he ran out of fear.

But did he reach for that gun?

"The city has taken the position that Edward went after the police officer's gun," said Tom Horne. "If he had gone after the gun, he would have been shot in the front and not in the back."

Brown's camp released a 12-minute clip of body camera footage that shows responding officers being candid with Brown after he was shot.

"Do not spit, I don't want your blood on me. If you do, we're going to have issues, K?" An officer was heard saying in the video.

"What do you do when blood is coming into your mouth? That to me is a telling moment," said Horne.

The video also shows a less than ideal response time. Nearly nine minutes into the video, EMS workers arrived on scene and were less than thrilled to be there.

"The amount of pain I was enduring, even when the officers was tossing me around, they didn't know how much pain I was going through," said Brown.

The officer who fired his weapon, since identified as Ken Silvia, did not have a body camera on him. The two attorneys at the news conference are also representing two others who are also filing multi-million dollar lawsuits against the city. Phoenix Police officials have said they do not comment on cases that are pending in litigation.