The Tokyo District Court ordered the Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Tuesday to pay 6.3 million yen in damages to a Chinese man who was wrongfully shot by a police officer in January 2002 and partially paralyzed.
The 34-year-old man's right leg was left paralyzed after the Metropolitan Police Department officer shot him in the spinal cord, according to the court.
The officer was trying to stop the man and two others for questioning while on street patrol.
"The shooting was beyond justifiable," presiding Judge Mariko Watahiki said, noting the officer shot the fleeing man in the back at point-blank range.
But the amount of damages awarded was well below the 37 million yen originally sought by the victim.
The man, who entered Japan illegally in 1997, was arrested after the shooting for allegedly obstructing an investigation, police said.
That charge was dropped but he was later charged with theft, convicted and is now serving a four-year prison sentence.