Man Shot By Police in Waffle House Parking Lot Files Suit

NORCROSS, GA -- A bystander shot by a Norcross Police officer in a Waffle House parking lot has filed a lawsuit.

Darnel Hamilton claims his arm is permanently damaged by the shooting, which happened in the confusion of a fight after a 2014 high school dance party, the Gwinnett Daily Post reports.

The Norcross officer was aiming for another man who had been reportedly firing a gun in the parking lot next to Fusion Events Hall on Brook Hollow Parkway.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court this week. It names the Norcross Police Department, Norcross city government, the officer and interim police Chief Bill Grogan.

Grogan declined comment to the Daily Post.

According to police, they were responding to a report of a fight just before 1 a.m. on October 13, 2014, when they witnessed a gunman, Dwight Anthony Jones, shoot a man in the parking lot of the Waffle House next to the event venue.

Police found another man, Rolandus Bailey, suffering gunshot wounds, as well as Hamilton.

Hamilton's lawsuit says he was trying to leave the parking lot to avoid the fights going on when he was shot.

Officer J. Sobani fired three or four rounds, "striking Darnel Hamilton in the leg, shattering his femur and striking him in the neck, causing serious injury which resulted in paralysis in his left arm," the lawsuit states.

To read the original report in the Gwinnett Daily Post, click here.