When Claude Got Shot
After being shot in the face by 15-year-old Nathan King, Claude’s path to recovery leads to forgiveness. But that path is paved with the complexities of race, violence, and justice.
Series
Premiere Date
May 9, 2022
Length
90 minutes
Funding Type
Awards & Recognition
Winner
2022 Primetime Emmy Awards - Exceptional Merit In Documentary Filmmaking
In 2014, Claude Motley and his family were visiting their former hometown of Milwaukee, WI when 15-year-old Nathan King attempted to carjack his rented Dodge Charger. In the process, Nathan shot Claude in the face. That moment is the axis on which Claude’s world turned, derailing him from his own legal career only to throw him in the middle of the criminal justice system as a victim, and the key to his shooter’s fate. When Claude Got Shot chronicles five years in Claude’s physical and mental recovery journey. Persisting through multiple surgeries, catastrophic health care bills, and the lingering emotional aftermath of that traumatic night, Claude finds himself torn between punishment for Nathan and the injustice of mass incarceration for Black men and boys. For Claude, the path to recovery ultimately leads to forgiveness. But that path proves to be a fraught one, paved with all the complexities that race, violence, justice, and healthcare can possibly present.