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North Miami Police say they responded on July 20 to the area of Northeast 14th Avenue and Northeast 127th Street for a report of an armed man threatening suicide.
The "armed man" was a 23-year-old autistic patient who had wandered away from a nearby mental health center. He was sitting on the ground, playing with a toy truck.
47 year old behavioral therapist Charles Kinsey, a black man, was attending to the patient.
Multiple cops, armed with rifles, responded to the scene.
Kinsey was hit in the leg by one bullet. A photo shows Kinsey lying on his back with both hands in the air.
Speaking from his hospital bed Wednesday July 20 to a reporter for WSVN TV, Kinsey said "when it hit me I had my hands in the air, and I'm thinking I just got shot! And I'm saying, 'Sir, why did you shoot me?' and his words to me were, 'I don't know'."
The police administered no first aid. "They flipped me over, and I'm faced down in the ground, with cuffs on, waiting on the rescue squad to come", Kinsey said. "I'd say about 20, about 20 minutes it took the rescue squad to get there. And I was like, bleeding."
No gun was found at the scene.
At a Thursday July 21 press conference, the Miami-Dade Police Benevolent Association said the officer was a member of the SWAT team. The head of the PBA told reporters the officer was too far away to hear what Kinsey was saying before he fired.
Heavy.com Heavy.com with video
Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956:
A Florida police officer shot and wounded an autistic man's black caretaker, authorities said, in an incident purportedly captured on cellphone video that shows the caretaker lying down with his arms raised before being shot.
Source: LA Times
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 22 2016, @03:37PM
A mistake is arresting someone you dont have the right to. A mistake is violating someones 4th ammend right.
If it involves your weapon, that is NOT A MISTAKE.
I am a veteran. We were taught you do NOT point your weapon at something you're not willing to destroy. Therefore if its even drawn it should not be aimed at ANYONE that you cannot VERIFY with CERTAINTY that they are a danger.
This BS about "fearing for their life" from unarmed or lightly armed, or armed but nonthreatening people should NOT be an excuse. That is NOT a mistake. Call it what it is cowardice.
Something else they taught us in the military. No matter what you are ALWAYS responsible for where that round ends up, even if it is an AD (accidental discharge). You ARE responsible.
In this case the COP IS RESPONSIBLE, and should be HELD ACCOUNTABLE.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 22 2016, @05:15PM
Albeit at a much older age than he himself learned it (he was a military brat).
You don't pull or point a gun unless you're ready to kill with it. You may be able to resolve the situation peacefully with just the presence of it, but once the gun is out of the holster you have to be prepared to either kill, or accept the consequences if you or somebody else is killed as a result.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by donkeyhotay on Friday July 22 2016, @06:56PM
I am also a veteran and everything you say is correct.
There are a couple of things I've noticed about this story. My comments are based on different statements that have been made about what happened, mostly from the police. I don't know *precisely* how things played out, and it does not sound like the police have figured out yet what story they're going with. They seem to be floating different ideas, trying to see which one "plays" best.
1) The police have (supposedly) claimed that they were too far away to hear what the caregiver was saying, yet they also claim to have been "negotiating" with the two men. Just how far away were they? How were they "negotiating" if they could not hear what was being said? They claim that they thought the man who was holding a toy truck, was holding a gun. That must have been some distance, even if they did not have any binoculars. Didn't anyone have any binoculars? Not even the SWAT team?
2) They are now claiming that the officer who fired his weapon was aiming for the autistic man who was holding a toy truck. Damn! Just how far away WERE they? In my prime, I qualified as sharpshooter in the Navy. That's not bad, but I would think nowhere nearly good enough to be on a SWAT team. Yet, I would still have no problem getting, say, a 20-inch grouping at 200 meters with iron sights. I could surely do better than that with a scope. It sounds like this SWAT officer missed his intended target by at least a meter, maybe more -- with a scope, no less. And, again, the man has a scope. Could he still not discern that the autistic man had a toy and not a gun? I repeat: just how far away WERE they?
3) It sounds like the cops were so far away that they had absolutely no idea what was going on.
This seems pretty cowardly for police work. I don't consider myself particularly brave, but I'm pretty sure I would have no problem holstering my gun and calmly walking up close enough to get a good look at the situation. It might be a little scary, but that's life. Sometimes you have to suck up your balls and keep a tight asshole.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by tftp on Saturday July 23 2016, @06:19AM
they claim that they thought the man who was holding a toy truck, was holding a gun. That must have been some distance
An obvious conclusion then: the police may aim and shoot at any group of people, as long as the officers are sufficiently far away to not see clearly what's happening within that group.
(Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Friday July 22 2016, @08:37PM
A mistake is arresting someone you dont have the right to. A mistake is violating someones 4th ammend right.
Neither of those are merely mistakes; they are egregious violations of someone's liberties, and should result in harsh punishments.