When Claude Got Shot (DVD)

Claude Motley thought he'd beaten the odds: a business owner who moved his family from the violence of Milwaukee to the suburbs of Charlotte. Yet there he is on a trip home for a high school reunion: black male victim, 43, shot in the face during a carjacking. Two nights later, Claude's assailant tries to rob nurse Victoria Davison, but she has a gun and shoots him during the struggle. A rush of guilt overcomes her as she overhears the paramedics - the boy she shot, Nathan King, is only 15 years old. Nathan's parents are devastated. They've done all the right things, including sending their son to a highly ranked suburban school. Now he's charged with multiple crimes, and, worse yet, he's paralyzed waist down. In a single weekend, three African-American families confront a harsh reality: there's no escape from gun violence. Our film follows how each of their lives have changed and the implications their stories have for our society's struggle to overcome gun violence.

• documentary