In a statement, North Miami police say officers who responded to the scene “attempted to negotiate with two men on the scene”, and that one of the officers discharged his weapon.
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Cellphone video from the scene showed 47-year-old Charles Kinsey, who is an employee of an assisted living facility, had laid on his back with his hands in the air while speaking with officers, who had drawn their guns.
The attorney of a man who was shot by a North Miami police officer this week said the city wants to settle the issue with his client as soon as possible.
The video shows a man lying in the street, holding his hands in the air.
But the police later shot and wounded that man, in a case that has renewed discussions of officers’ use of force. “And I am laying down here just like this, and I’m telling them again, ‘Sir, there is no need for firearms. You have questions, the community has questions, we as a city, we as a member of this police department and I also have questions”, he said. And when it hit me I had my hands in the air, and I’m thinking, I just got shot.
North Miami police held a news conference Thursday, where Police Chief Gary Eugene said the department has turned over the investigation to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The violence capped two weeks of turmoil for Baton Rouge that began with the killing of a black man, Alton Sterling, during a scuffle with two white police officers at a convenience store.
“I think one of the biggest hurdles that’s going to be tough for him in the long run is the mental aspect of it because he feels he really did everything he could do to cooperate and go over and beyond to show police that he’s not armed and that he’s trying to help de-escalate a situation with a mental health individual”, Napoleon said.
Assistant Police Chief Neal Cuevas said that police were responding to a 911 call that a man was in the street with a gun threatening suicide.
In an interview with WSVN-TV, Kinsey said he complied with officers and was anxious about his patient.
Kinsey said when he asked the officer why he fired his weapon, the officer responded, “I don’t know”.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will be investigating the Monday night shooting of Charles Kinsey in North Miami, officials said. The video does not show the moment of the shooting.
Napoleon said today Kinsey is physically “doing OK”. The witness said the officer fired from more than 100 feet away with a rifle.
“We don’t know enough about it at this point in time”, she said, when asked whether federal authorities would begin their own investigation.
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U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson represents the area and said she was in shock after watching the video.
