Cops gun down unarmed therapist helping autistic man – despite him lying on his back with hands up
Charles Kinsey was trying to calm a 27-year-old patient playing with a toy truck when officers shot three times, hitting him in the leg
An unarmed therapist was shot by US cops while trying to calm his autistic patient – despite lying flat on his back with his hands up.
Charles Kinsey was helping a man who fled from a group home when they were approached by officers responding to reports of someone threatening to shoot himself.
Kinsey was trying to comfort the autistic man who was sitting in the street playing with a toy truck when officers ordered them to lie on the ground.
The 47-year-old complied and put his hands up while trying to get his patient to do the same, asking him calmly: ‘Rinaldo, please be still. Lay on your stomach.’
Mobile phone footage taken just before the shooting shows him begging police not to shoot while his patient, 27, yells at him to “shut up."
An officer then fired three times, striking Kinsey in the leg, it was reported by WSVN-TV. No weapon was found.
Speaking from his hospital bed, Kinsey spoke of his shock that the officer opened fire on him.
He said: 'It was so surprising.
'I thought it was a mosquito bite and when it hit me I had my hands in the air and I'm thinking I just got shot!'
North Miami police have placed the officer on administrative leave for at least a week, it was reported by the Miami Herald.
Kinsey's lawyer, Hilton Napoleon, said he is seeking a possible settlement with city officials.
He added: "They realise this was something inappropriate regarding the shooting."