Jacob Blake, shot by police seven times in the back in August, has been discharged from a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, hospital and has been sent to Chicago, Illinois, for rehabilitation, according to his lawyer, Patrick Cafferty.
“[Blake is] in a spinal injury rehabilitation center in Chicago,” Cafferty told CNN. “I can't provide more details”.
It has not been clear how long the 29-year-old, who has been left paralyzed from the waist down following the shooting, will be forced to spend in rehab.
A Blake family member later confirmed that the victim had been released from hospital “about a week ago”, and added that his health was improving.
“He’s doing well,” said Justin Blake, the victim's uncle, quoted by the Associated Press. “He’s getting mentally stronger and physically stronger. ... He’s still paralyzed. He’s entering therapy at a rehab center, trying to get his strength and body in whatever best condition that is to push forward.”
In late August, Blake, a black man who had an outstanding arrest warrant in Wisconsin, was shot in the back by a white police officer after walking away from three other cops who were trying to arrest him. Jacob had leaned into his SUV with his children inside when the officer, Rusten Sheskey, shot him seven times, striking him with four of those bullets.
The filmed shooting of Blake ignited several nights of unrest in Kenosha, and in areas of the rest of the country, during which two people were killed.
The arrest warrant was issued over charges of sexually assaulting a woman in May. In early-September, in his first appearance since he was shot, a paralyzed Blake pleaded not guilty to the charges and waived his right to a preliminary hearing. A trail has been scheduled for 9 November.
