Video shows black behavioral therapist lying down with his hands up before police shot him
A black behavioral therapist trying to help an autistic man outside an assisted living facility is shown in a video lying on the pavement with his hands up as police approached to investigate a report of an armed man threatening suicide.
The therapist, Charles Kinsey, can be heard telling North Miami, Florida, police that there is no need for weapons because the other man only has a toy truck in his hands. Kinsey pleads with the seated autistic man to lie down, but he refuses. Moments later, a police officer fired his weapon, striking Kinsey in the leg. The Washington Post, WSVN and the Miami Herald have stories.
Kinsey told WSVN in a hospital interview that he was stunned that he was shot on Monday afternoon because his hands were in the air. He also said that police rushed over to him, patted him down, put him in handcuffs and flipped him face down. Police left him there for about 20 minutes, Kinsey said.
Kinsey said he was trying to calm the autistic man after he wandered away from the facility.
North Miami Police Chief Gary Eugene said at a news conference on Thursday morning that police did not recover any weapons. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will be conducting the investigation into the shooting.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said her office would conduct a parallel investigation and determine whether criminal charges should be filed against the officer.
