North Miami Cops Shoot Behavioral Therapist Trying to Help Autistic Patient Who Had a Toy Truck
Victim is in hospital.
Cops in North Miami were caught on cellphone video shooting Charles Kinsey, a behavioral specialist, while he lay on the ground with his hands in the air, as reported by WSVN.
Kinsey says he was trying to intervene on behalf of an autistic patient who had run off from the group home. According to police, someone called 911 to report a suicidal man walking around with a gun. The group home patient had a toy truck in his hands.
"When I went to the ground, I went to the ground with my hands up," Kinsey told WSVN, "and I am laying there just like this. Telling them again there is no need for firearms. He is autistic. He has a toy truck in his hand."
"I was really more worried about him than myself. I was thinking as long as I have my hands up," Kinsey continued. "They're not going to shoot me. This is what I'm thinking, they're not going to shoot me. Wow, was I wrong."
Cops did, however, shoot Kinsey. "I thought it was a mosquito bite," Kinsey explained to WSVN, "and when it hit me I had my hands in the air, and I'm thinking I just got shot! And I'm saying, 'Sir, why did you shoot me?' and his words to me were, 'I don't know.'"
Police did not identify the police officer who shot Kinsey and would not update WSVN about their investigation, although they say the state is also investigating the incident.
WSVN reported that this evening a group of protesters arrived outside the police department headquarters, "requesting that police answer questions about what happened and if the officer responsible for shooting will face charges."
Watch the WSVN segment below: