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The lawsuit claims Douglas Hourran shot the man at “point blank” range “without any warning or justification to do so.”
AURORA, Colo. — A man who was shot and wounded by a now former Aurora Police officer just weeks after he entered the United States to seek asylum is now suing that officer and the department claiming that his civil rights were violated.
Last summer, Douglas Harroun, who resigned from the department, was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon for the Dec. 31, 2022, shooting that occurred while he was on duty and responding to a call. Both charges are felonies.
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On Tuesday, the victim of the shooting, Duvan Jamir Fernandez Zulanga, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit. Zulanga, 38, was shot in his right ankle. The lawsuit claims Hourran shot him at “point blank” range “without any warning or justification to do so.”
> The video above aired June 9. 2023.
Harroun and another officer both responded to the home in the 1200 block of North Chambers Road in Aurora after a woman called police claiming her significant other was intoxicated and had pushed her and smashed her phone, according to an arrest affidavit. She told dispatchers she was not injured and that no weapons were involved.
She also told police that the suspect only spoke Spanish, and according to the lawsuit asked that an officer know Spanish to respond.
According to the lawsuit, the couple involved in the dispute were Zulanga’s landlords. He lived in the basement of the home and was not involved in the dispute which occurred upstairs. The lawsuit says Zulanga had arrived in the U.S. just weeks before the shooting from Colombia and was seeking asylum. It also says he did not speak English.
When Harroun and the other officer arrived, they learned the man involved in the initial dispute was in the basement. Zulanga and several others were also there.
Both officers descended the stairs with their weapons drawn and ordered everyone to show their hands, the affidavit says.
The suspect, who was on a couch, put his hands up, and the other men in the room moved out of the way and put their hands above their heads. At that time, Harroun and the other officer holstered their weapons and Harroun moved to take the suspect into custody, according to the affidavit.
The lawsuit says once the suspect was handcuffed, Zulanga stood up from where he was sitting. As he did so, the lawsuit says he heard an officer say something in English that he did not understand.
Seconds later, the lawsuit says, Zulanga saw a flash of light from the stairs and felt pain in his ankle. The lawsuit claims that Harroun had no “legal reason” to use potentially deadly force and notes that Zulanga had not committed any crime, was unarmed, and had complied with all orders that were given in Spanish – the language he understood.
The lawsuit says Zulunga’s fibula was shattered as a result of the shooting, and he still experiences permanent issues including numbness and decreased range of motion.
The lawsuit claims the City of Aurora lowered its admission standards which resulted in the hiring of Harroun. It also claims the department failed to properly supervise or train its officers.
Zulunga is seeking damages for emotional distress as well as financial and economic losses which resulted from his injury.
Harroun is currently set for trial related to the criminal charges in October.
Off-duty incident involving Harroun
Harroun resigned from the Aurora Police Department on Jan. 30, 2023, after he was arrested for a separate incident that occurred earlier that month in the parking lot of the Caliber at Cornerstar Apartments on Briarwood Circle in Aurora. He was off duty at the time.
According to an arrest affidavit for that case, Harroun and his wife were driving back to their apartment, and the victim, a 49-year-old woman, was walking her dog in the middle of the road as they approached their parking garage.
Harroun saw that the victim’s dog was not on a leash and had to drive slowly behind the two because they were in the middle of the road, the affidavit says. At one point, the victim stopped walking and turned around to yell at Harroun for following her. The three got into an argument, and Harroun and his wife got out of their car, the affidavit says.
RELATED: Aurora Police officer accused of punching a physically disabled woman resigns under investigation
The affidavit says witnesses saw Harroun punch the victim in the face. She fell to the ground, and Harroun got on top of her and punched her in the head four or five more times.
The victim went to the hospital with injuries that police said were consistent with what witnesses described.
The affidavit says that during the argument, the victim mentioned she was disabled. Police said she has a chronic neurological condition that affects the left side of her body.
Harroun is currently set to go to trial in September related to the assault of the disabled woman. He’s charged with three counts of assault and one count of attempt to influence a public servant related to that incident.
The victim in that case has also filed a lawsuit related to the incident.
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