The man an NT Police officer shot two weeks ago in Palmerston is 19-year-old Peter Skeen, a former Don Dale inmate who unsuccessfully sued the government last year, alleging he had been assaulted by corrections officers at the notorious youth prison in late 2016.

His family, who demanded that the media refer to him as “Big Brotha of 0830”, said in a social media post on Tuesday that he had come out of a coma after the shooting, but remains in “a critical but stable condition”.

“Big Brotha woke up after 13 days in a coma,” the statement from his family posted to a Twitter account said.

“Thank you to the doctors and nurses in the ICU for all your hard work and effort to look after our boy. We will provide more updates when we are ready.”

The statement also said the family “do not want any photos of Big Brotha of 0830 to be shared” and that the substitute name be used.

However, that is typically a custom reserved for an Aboriginal person who has died. His family said he has not died and it remains unclear on what grounds they are trying to keep his identity and photos suppressed.

Photos posted to Mr Skeen’s Facebook page over the last few years show him posing in assorted face coverings and flashing gang signs, with one post stating “Fuck all the cops to the max”.

The police said the day after the shooting that Mr Skeen was in a critical condition at hospital, despite conflicting accounts about his status.

It’s understood that Mr Skeen was shot by an unnamed police officer around 9am on March 8, after he allegedly threatened two police officers with a spear near the Gray primary school.

Police said six shots were fired at him by the same officer, but would not say how many shots had hit him.

Sources with knowledge of the situation told the NT Independent that two shots had struck Mr Skeen, sending him to hospital.

A photo of Peter Skeen posted in late January. Picture: Facebook

Police had initially alleged Mr Skeen had injured another person earlier in the morning who was taken to hospital. They later ruled out his connection to a “domestic violence” situation they were originally called to on the day of the shooting, although it remains unclear if they still allege Mr Skeen had injured someone earlier. Police had followed a trail of blood to locate Mr Skeen before the shooting.

Assistant Police Commissioner Michael White said earlier this month that a “strong” investigative team had been assembled to investigate the details of the officer-involved shooting.

He also revealed at the time the other officer present had deployed a taser during the incident.

“The investigative team will look at all aspects of the case including what happened prior, reasons why that person was armed in a public place and also the circumstances of the shooting,” he said at a press conference following the incident.

A photograph from Peter Skeen’s Facebook page from March 7.

Mr Skeen appeared to have updated his Facebook cover photo the day before the shooting to a picture of himself with a large group of young people holding up red and black bandanas commonly associated with gangs.

Mr Skeen, who was born on March 24, 2002, was well-known to police, and was scheduled to appear in Darwin Local Court this morning – two days before his 20th birthday – for aggravated unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

After the shooting on March 8, the ABC quoted a resident of Gray who said he knew Mr Skeen and that the 19-year-old was “not a violent person”.

“He was a harmless little boy, he’s not a violent person or anything,” he said.

“Everyone knows him, he hangs with us.”

Skeen sued NT Government for damages in 2020 after alleging he had been assaulted at Don Dale youth prison

According to publicly available local court documents, Mr Skeen sued the NT Government for damages in 2020 after alleging he had been assaulted by two youth prison guards in the courtyard of the high security unit at Don Dale in December 2016 when he was 14-years-old.

Mr Skeen alleged he had been “knocked out” after a guard threw him to the ground, telling the court he thought he may have “said something cheeky to the guard but I can’t remember what it was”.

He also denied throwing a punch at the guard that was captured on CCTV footage, explaining his arm had been caught in his shirt and he was simply trying to release it.

A photo posted to Peter Skeen’s page from 2017. Picture: Facebook

Judge Alan Woodcock dismissed the action in June last year, stating that Mr Skeen’s account of what transpired was “unreliable” due to the events being more than three years old by the time he gave evidence and the holes in testimony.

“Sadly, however his account is unreliable and he cannot recall his conduct immediately before and during the alleged assault,” Judge Woodcock wrote in his reasons for decision.

“I am satisfied on all the evidence that the conduct of (the guards) was reasonably necessary in the circumstances. The action in battery by the plaintiff is dismissed.”

Mr Skeen’s family were contacted for comment.