North Miami Police shot an unarmed caregiver near a group home on Monday, and new video shows that his hands were in the air moments before.
Police had been called to the scene because of reports of an armed man threatening suicide—the man had actually wandered away from a group home and only had a toy truck in his hands. His caregiver was attempting to get him back to the home.
In the cell phone video, the man, Charles Kinsey, is seen lying on the ground with his hands raised. He tries to explain to the officers that the autistic man he was helping are both unarmed and he only had a toy truck in his hands.
“He tried to explain that this is a mental health patient, that he was trying to get him back into the facility,” said Kinsey’s attorney, Hilton Napoleon. “There was no need for firearms. He put his hands up, told them he was unarmed.”
Kinsey is still recovering from the incident, but says he was surprised when police shot him.
“It was like a mosquito bite, and when it hit me, I’m like, ‘I still got my hands in the air, and I said, ‘No I just got shot! And I’m saying, ‘Sir, why did you shoot me?’ and his words to me, he said, ‘I don’t know.'”
Police officers released a statement Tuesday, saying, in part:
There is preliminary information that North Miami Police Officers were dispatched to the scene after a 911 call was received of an armed male suspect threatening suicide. Arriving officers attempted to negotiate with two men on the scene, one of whom was later identified as suffering from autism. The other man was later identified as an employee of an assisted living facility. At some point during the on-scene negotiation, one of the responding officers discharged his weapon, striking the employee.
Not much more information has been given about the officer, except that he’s been placed on administrative leave, which is the standard procedure, the state attorney’s office is also involved in the investigation.
