Dramatic moment man who managed to escape from his drug-addict knife-wielding brother is shot five times by cops: ‘You guys shot the wrong guy’

A college athlete was seen doubled over in pain after he was shot five times and Tased by police officers who mistook him for his drug-addicted, knife-wielding brother.

Maverick Lyon, 21, could then be heard telling the police officers that surrounded him outside his family’s home in North Albany, Oregon on January 6: ‘You guys shot the wrong guy – he was holding me hostage.’

But the cops seemed to double down on their efforts, yelling at Lyon to roll over as they handcuffed him. 

Lyon is now suing the Albany Police Department in Oregon and a Benton County probation officer over the shooting, which left him in the hospital for one month as he underwent extensive surgeries – including the removal of half his right lung.

He wound up missing the spring semester at St Anselm College in New Hampshire, as well as his senior lacrosse season – though he was able to play again this semester. 

Still, his facial injuries will require orthopedic and plastic surgery, his lawyers said. 

Lyon now alleges that two police officers violated his Fourth Amendment rights through use of excessive force, battery and negligence when they fired at him – even though he dropped the kitchen knife he was carrying in self-defense, KOIN reports. 

The case is about the ‘devastating consequences when law enforcement fails to distinguish someone posing a threat,’ his lawyer Alicia LeDuc Montgomery told the Oregonian. 

The tragedy began when Lyon was home from college, while his parents allowed his older brother, John ‘Dakota’ Lyon, to live in a separate studio apartment at their home following his release from prison in November 2025. 

Dakota had struggled with drug abuse following a knee surgery, and on January 5, just one day before the shooting, the brothers’ parents alerted Benton County officials that he had relapsed and was on drugs again, according to the lawsuit. 

A probation officer then visited the home and spoke with Dakota, but did not take him into custody, the suit contends.

Instead, it said, Dakota left the house and failed to return home that night.

He then came back at around 10am the following morning, while his and Maverick’s parents were at work, and found his brother in the kitchen preparing breakfast. The two brothers then sat and ate together.

Following the morning meal, Dakota called their father at work at around 10.28am.

During the roughly 20-minute call, the lawsuit says, Dakota became agitated and ‘delusional and nonsensical.’

When he then hung up, he grabbed a large kitchen knife, seized his brother and declared him a hostage, ranting that people, including their father, were trying to kill him, the lawsuit claims.

Maverick pleaded with his brother to release him, the lawsuit says.

When that didn’t work, it says, he changed his tactic and told Dakota he was on his side, at which point Maverick picked up a kitchen knife for his own protection.

Meanwhile, their father, David Lyon, grew concerned that Maverick stopped answering his calls.

So he checked the family’s Ring security camera footage remotely and saw Dakota pointing a knife at his brother.

The worried father then called 911 at 10.48am, reporting that his older son, who was shirtless, wearing pajama pants and who was on post-prison supervision, was threatening his younger brother with a knife.

He detailed that his younger son was wearing a long-sleeve gray shirt.

Albany police officers Kenny Allin and Jon Wymore then rushed to the scene and knocked on the front door, receiving no response.

A third police officer, Matt Thomas, arrived a short time later and went directly to the back of the house without speaking with the cops out front, the lawsuit states.

Through the back door window, it says, Thomas was able to see the two men inside the house wearing the attire their father had described. 

In harrowing Ring doorbell camera footage, Thomas could be seen approaching the back door of the Lyons’ family home and radioing: ‘We have a male back here, still has a knife in his hand.’

‘He’s inside the house. I can see him here,’ he continued, as he pulled on the door and grabbed his Glock.

Inside the house, the lawsuit says, Maverick saw Thomas through the window and repeatedly mouthed ‘Help me!’ but received no response. 

The cop then yelled orders to ‘step away’ noting on his radio that he saw the knife as another officer, identified in the lawsuit as Engle Diaz, approached and drew his gun.

At one point, the suit said, Dakota, who was still shirtless and holding a knife, yelled to the officers that they ‘are in a bad situation, a brotherly situation.’

Thomas could be seen in the footage acknowledging the brothers’ dispute as he barked orders to ‘Step out here,’ without specifying which brother he was addressing.

As the officer then backed slightly away from the door, Maverick decided to make a run for it, the lawsuit says.

Still wearing his gray, long-sleeve shirt, he opened the back door with his left hand, dropped the knife and ran out, crouching with both empty hands extended so the officers could see he was unarmed, the lawsuit states.

But almost immediately as he stepped outside, the footage shows, one of the officers Tased the college athlete, causing him to fall to the ground.

Still, Thomas could be heard shouting at the 21-year-old to ‘drop it’ even though the knife was already on the back patio as he fired two shots.

Diaz also fired at Maverick after he dropped the knife and continued firing, shooting a total of five times.

As Maverick then lay on the ground bleeding, Thomas called him by his first name, yelling: ‘Maverick, get on your stomach.’

Dakota, meanwhile, was still armed with the knife and stood in the doorway.

‘Oh my God,’ he could be heard in the background. ‘What are you doing?’

At that point, Maverick informs the police that they ‘got the wrong guy,’ and explains: ‘I can’t move, you guys shot me.’  

Maverick went on to be hospitalized for a month, during which time he required extensive surgeries, resulting in the removal of parts of his lungs, appendix and spleen. He also needed reconstructive surgery of his digestive system.

Even when he was discharged, he needed feeding and waste tubes, requiring his parents to care for him at home. 

Meanwhile, Dakota pleaded guilty to attempted kidnapping, unlawful use of a weapon and coercion in connection with the incident, and was sentenced to six years and five months in state prison.

He said in court he wished he could have taken the bullets instead of his brother, KVAL reports.

The lawsuit now blames the shooting on a lack of communication between the responding officers, the police having no coordinated plan on how to approach or communicate with the suspect and a failure to use the father’s description of what the brothers were wearing to identify who was the hostage and who was the threat, according to the Oregonian.

‘Every police officer is trained that time and tactics are the keys to safely defusing crises and these officers rushed in with no plan at all,’ attorney Jesse Merrithew argued.

Yet the Benton County District Attorney has ruled that the shooting was justified.

‘In this case, the officers, in real time, had only fractions of a second to decide how to act,’ DA Ryan S Joslin said in a statement to the Oregonian.

He said he found the officers’ decision to fire was based on ‘an objectively reasonable belief’ that it was necessary to protect themselves or their fellow officers.

But he also acknowledged that the outcome was ‘an absolute tragedy,’ adding he was confident the officers ‘would not have wished it to turn out that way.’

Maverick’s parents, though, said they support their son taking legal action.

‘We cannot change what happened that day, but we want answers, accountability and changes that help prevent another family from experiencing the pain ours has,’ they said in a joint statement.

‘Most importantly, we want Maverick to have every opportunity to heal, move forward and live the life he deserves.’

David, his father, added that he ‘called the police that day because I wanted to protect Maverick and instead, the very people I called for help ended up nearly taking his life.’

The Daily Mail has reached out to the city of Albany and Benton County for comment.