Kinsey, a behavioural therapist who works at a specialist home, went into the street when the 23-year-old autistic patient walked out and was trying to coax him back. Kinsey said he was trying to calm the 24-year-old runaway when the police arrived.
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Police said officers responded to the scene after they received a 911 call of an armed man threatening suicide.
North Miami Police Chief Gary Eugene addressed the public Thursday morning for the first time since one of his officers shot an unarmed mental healthcare worker while he was caring for a patient.
MOBILE phone footage has emerged of the moment an autistic man’s black carer was lying down with his hands in the air, before police shot him. The department says the officer is now on administrative leave and that it’s investigating the case with the help of the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office. I’d say about 20, about 20 minutes it took the rescue squad to get there. “Thankfully, Mr Kinsey is alive and not more gravely injured – but had the officer’s weapon been pointed just a few degrees differently, this senseless incident could have been a much greater tragedy”, he told CNN. The Washington Post, WSVN and the Miami Herald have stories.
Late today, the Police Benevolent Association defended the officer who shot Kinsey saying it was an accident. “Please, do not shoot me”, Kinsey told WSVN-Channel 7.
There seems to be an overwhelming fear of black men, driven by mass media, that causes police officers to use deadly force, added Rick Anderson, a black retired Boston firefighter with two sons working as deputy sheriffs in in MA and Alabama.
After all, the video that we did see shows the autistic man making no such movement. He called it a “very sensitive matter” and promised a transparent investigation, but he refused to identify the officer or answer reporters’ questions.
In a brief press conference at North Miami police headquarters, Eugene said no weapon had been recovered and spoke of the department’s commitment to transparency. He would not say who gave him the video. I was thinking as long as I have my hands up … they’re not going to shoot me.
Baton Rouge, in the USA state of Louisiana, recently became the scene of large protests against police brutality after officers shot dead 37-year-old Alton Sterling on July 5 outside a supermarket, claiming he had a gun.
“I think it’s a bogus explanation, I think it’s not acceptable, it’s an excuses and excuses of tools of incompetence”, protester Ade Abisogun said.
She said she understands why police may have missed the signals, even though the therapist said he told officers the man was autistic and that he had a toy truck.
Kinsey was shot three times and subsequently hospitalized.
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Kinsey, 47, said in an earlier interview with a local FOX affiliate that when he asked the officer why he opened fire, he said he didn’t know.
