Jacob Blake - the African-American man shot seven times in the back during an altercation with police in Kenosha, Wisconsin - has been released from hospital six weeks after the shooting, according to reports.
Blake's attorney Patrick Cafferty told local media the 29-year-old has checked into a "spinal injury rehabilitation centre" in Chicago and is still recovering from his wounds.The shooting has left the 29-year-old father paralysed from the waist down, according to his family, and it remains uncertain whether he will ever walk again.
He suffered injuries to his arm, kidney, liver and spinal cord, said Patrick Salvi Jr, another family attorney.
"He had a bullet go through some or all of his spinal cord, at least one bullet. He has holes in his stomach. He had to have nearly his entire colon and small intestines removed," Salvi said in August.
The shooting has become another prominent case of police brutality seized by the Black Lives Matter movement, a campaign against systemic racial injustice in the United States that has gained considerable traction this year, particularly in the aftermath of the alleged murder of George Floyd - an unarmed Black man - by a white police officer in May.
On August 23, video taken by an eyewitness showed armed officers trailing Blake, who was ignoring their commands to stop as he walked to his SUV. As Blake opened the door to the vehicle, one of the officers tugged at his shirt, before unloading seven shots into his back.
Blake's children - aged three, five and eight - were inside the vehicle at the time. One had been celebrating their birthday.
The officers involved have been placed on administrative leave while the incident is investigated.
One of the first things Blake asked upon regaining consciousness in the hospital was why he had been shot so many times, his father told reporters.
The 29-year-old has since undergone multiple surgeries at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, and revealed he is suffering from constant pain.
"It hurts to breathe. It hurts to sleep. It hurts to move side to side. It hurts to eat," he said in a video message from his hospital bed in August.
The Kenosha Professional Police Association claims Blake refused to drop a knife during the altercation - an account disputed by the family's attorneys.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Justice's division of criminal investigation, cited in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Blake may have told the officers he was in possession of the knife, which was later discovered inside Blake's vehicle.
It's reported that an arrest warrant filed against Blake on July 7, regarding alleged domestic abuse, led to the emergency call that preceded the shooting. From his hospital bed, Blake pleaded not guilty to charges relating to an alleged sexual assault in the third-degree, criminal trespass to dwelling and disorderly conduct.
According to his court record, a US$10,000 bond was signed early in September, and the 29-year-old is prohibited from possessing any weapons. He is currently unable to leave Wisconsin unless the travel is for treatment.
His final pre-trial is scheduled for October 21.
