Police are investigating after an officer shot a therapist
who was looking after an autistic man while he was lying in the street with his
hands up.
Charles Kinsey, was trying to get his 27-year-old patient to
return to a treatment facility when police arrived in response to reports of a
man threatening to shoot himself.
Video shot by a witness who saw the scene unfold shows the
47-year-old Mr Kinsey lying in the street on his back and with his hands in the
air, while his patient plays with a toy truck and screams at him to "shut
up".
Mr Kinsey can be heard shouting to the officers, who are
armed with rifles: "All he has is a toy truck. I'm a behaviour therapist
at a group home." He also urges his patient to comply with the officers:
"Rinaldo, please be still, Rinaldo. Sit down Rinaldo, lay on your
stomach." Moments later, shots were fired and Mr Kinsey was hit in the
leg.
"It was so surprising. It was like a mosquito
bite," he later told WSVN-TV, adding that he had called out there was no
need for firearms.
North Miami Assistant Police Chief, Neal Cuevas, told The
Miami Herald that police ordered Mr Kinsey and his patient to lie on the ground
before an officer fired three times, striking Kinsey in the leg. No weapon was
found.
Mr Kinsey is a member of the Circle of Brotherhood
collective who do good deeds for the community and the group have demanded
answers from the police.
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