A Vietnamese man was awarded $11 million in compensation after being shot by police last year, leaving him paralyzed.

According to a lawsuit filed in San Jose, California, on January 3, 2014, police were called to Hung Lam's home after receiving information that he was planning to commit suicide.

He held the phone in one hand and a knife to his stomach in the other. A neighbor tried to calm Lam down.

As soon as Officer Dondi West arrived, she rushed towards Mr Lam and shouted, demanding that he “put the knife down” and “get on the floor”. However, Mr Lam continued to argue with his neighbor and paid no attention to the officer.

Hung Lam (in a wheelchair) answers the press at the representative law office in Oakland, California, USA, on December 22. Photo: Mercurynews

When she got within five metres of him, Ms West fired two shots into Mr Lam’s back, damaging his aorta, lungs and kidneys. Despite being rushed to the hospital and undergoing surgery, Mr Lam was left permanently paralysed in both legs.

In his complaint, Lam asserted that he was holding a knife and threatening to cut himself when the incident occurred. A neighbor also confirmed that he did not threaten the policewoman.

After a three-week trial, a federal jury on December 22 found that Ms. West had reacted improperly during the confrontation and bore most of the blame. The jury awarded Mr. Lam $11.3 million in economic and non-economic damages, the largest award in San Jose history.

Hung Lam came to the US in 2012, opened his own restaurant and then continued working in the culinary industry. He is also a talented dancer.

“I am very happy,” Hung Lam, 38, said at his lawyer’s office with his sister Kathy Lam and mother. But he said no amount of money could give him back his legs. “I will not be able to walk for the rest of my life.”

According to VNE