The police shooting of a black therapist in Miami was “accidental” as the officer had meant to shoot the man’s autistic patient instead, says a Florida union.
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North Miami police said they were responding to reports of an armed man threatening suicide in the middle of the street.
While the actual shooting Monday was not captured on camera, a recording shows that before any shots were fired, the man was lying on his back on the ground, his hands in the air, calling out that the man sitting near him was not holding any kind of weapon.
Police officers at the time did not know the other man was a disabled patient who had wandered from an assisted living facility, said John Rivera, president of the Police Benevolent Association in Dade County.
Then an officer fired his weapon, three times according to North Miami police.
Kinsey’s lawyer, Hilton Napoleon II, said: “There is no justification to shoot an unarmed man on the ground with his hands in the air who is telling you no one has a gun and the person here is autistic”. He’s got a toy truck in his hand.
Pensacola police Sgt. Jimmy Donohoe, who also teaches classes for the Autism Society, said officers shouldn’t be expected to be “roadside clinical evaluators” – but there are characteristics to recognize.
“I am asking the officer, I said, “sir, please don’t shoot me”.
The video spread wildly online Wednesday night and Thursday, and state officials said they had launched an investigation.
“We at least want to be respected enough so that when we do get shot done unjustly by police they’re held accountable and not given a paid vacation, they’re not protected and hid behind the walls of the police department”, protester Dominique Colas said. Police said in a statement that the shooter was placed on administrative leave according to standard procedures.
“This is not typical of North Miami”, she said. Video footage captures the moments before the shooting, and its aftermath, but not the shooting itself. He said he was on his back with his hands up when he was shot. I’m unarmed, this is an autistic guy. “This is what I am thinking”, Kinsey said from a hospital bed where he is recovering from a gunshot wound to the leg. I was thinking as long as I have my hands up … they’re not going to shoot me.
Dan Starks, who’s worked alongside the Federal Bureau of Investigation and law enforcement for decades, says if you see something suspicious, the more clarity you have before calling, the better.
“It appeared to the officers that the white male was trying to do harm to Mr. Kinsey”, Rivera said at a news conference.
“I was more anxious about him than myself”, Kinsey told CNN affiliate WSVN-TV in Miami.
The shooting she said, isn’t typical of the city, which she described as a “melting pot”.
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Sterling’s killing was followed the next day with another police shooting.
