“I don’t know.”
That’s the response the North Miami police officer gave to shooting victim Charles Kinsey, when he asked why the officer opened fire as he lay flat on the ground, hands outstretched to prove he was no threat to the police.
“I was thinking as long as I have my hands up … they’re not going to shoot me. This is what I’m thinking, they’re not going to shoot me. Wow, was I wrong,” Kinsey, 47, told WSVN from his hospital bed. The Miami Herald reports he suffered a bullet wound to the leg and is expected to be released from Jackson Memorial Hospital on Thursday.
Kinsey’s story is reminiscent of numerous shootings involving the police, in which an unarmed Black suspect is tragically shot and killed. Fortunately, Kinsey is still alive to tell his story, but the trauma of his experience will linger on.
As the July shooting deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, five Dallas officers, and three Baton Rouge cops stays top of mind, it presents a critical conversation for national law enforcement on policing in minority communities, with an added topic of mental health disparities among African-Americans and other disenfranchised groups.
What led up to the shooting began on Monday at the MacTown Panther Group Homes, where Kinsey works as a mental health counselor. He was called outside to retrieve an autistic patient who wandered into the street to play with a toy truck.
Kinsey was just doing his job when police arrived at the scene. Officers, on the other hand, say they received a call reporting an armed man was in the street, threatening to commit suicide.
Cell phone footage released Wednesday shows Kinsey trying to de-escalate the situation, telling his patient to be still and to lie down, while locked in an unthreatening position.
“I was more worried about him than myself,” Kinsey said, according to WSVN. The autistic patient’s name hasn’t been released.
North Miami Police Department’s spokeswoman Natalie Buissereth released the following statement: “Arriving officers attempted to negotiate with the two men on the scene, one of whom was later identified as suffering from autism… At some point during the on-scene negotiation, one of the responding officers discharged his weapon.”
After they shot him, officers rushed Kinsey, searched his body and handcuffed him.
“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 — I mean bleeding and I was like, ‘Wow.’”
Kinsey’s lawyer Hilton Napoleon told WSVN he’s livid. “There’s no justification for shooting an unarmed person who’s talking to you and telling you that they don’t have a gun, and that they’re a mental health counselor,” Napoleon said. The Herald reports Kinsey and Napoleon are in settlement talks with the city of North Miami.
Police are staying mum on the incident – they haven’t released the name of the responding officer who fired at Kinsey, but have placed him on administrative leave. In response, the state attorney is looking into the investigation, WSVN reports.
There have been no reports that a gun was found near the scene, according to The Miami Herald.
SOURCE: WSVN, Miami Herald | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
SEE ALSO:
Law & Order Take Center Stage At RNC Opening After Cop Shootings
56 Black Men And Boys Killed By Police
56 Black Men And Boys Killed By Police
1. Jimmy Atchison, 21
1 of 562. Willie McCoy, 20
2 of 563. Emantic "EJ" Fitzgerald Bradford Jr., 21
3 of 564. D’ettrick Griffin, 18
4 of 565. Jemel Roberson, 26
Source:false 5 of 566. DeAndre Ballard, 23
Source:false 6 of 567. Botham Shem Jean, 26
Source:false 7 of 568. Antwon Rose Jr., 17
Source:false 8 of 569. Robert Lawrence White, 41
Source:false 9 of 5610. Anthony Lamar Smith, 24
Source:Getty
10 of 56
11. Ramarley Graham, 18
Source:Getty
11 of 56
12. Manuel Loggins Jr., 31
Source:Getty
12 of 56
13. Trayvon Martin, 17
Source:Getty
13 of 56
14. Wendell Allen, 20
Source:Getty
14 of 56
15. Kendrec McDade, 19
Source:Getty
15 of 56
16. Larry Jackson Jr., 32
Source:Getty
16 of 56
17. Jonathan Ferrell, 24
Source:Getty
17 of 56
18. Jordan Baker, 26
Source:Getty
18 of 56
19. Victor White lll, 22
Source:Getty
19 of 56
20. Dontre Hamilton, 31
Source:Getty
20 of 56
21. Eric Garner, 43
Source:Getty
21 of 56
22. John Crawford lll, 22
Source:Getty
22 of 56
23. Michael Brown, 18
Source:Getty
23 of 56
24. Ezell Ford, 25
Source:Getty
24 of 56
25. Dante Parker, 36
Source:Getty
25 of 56
26. Kajieme Powell, 25
Source:Getty
26 of 56
27. Laquan McDonald, 17
Source:Getty
27 of 56
28. Akai Gurley, 28
Source:Getty
28 of 56
29. Tamir Rice, 12
Source:Getty
29 of 56
30. Rumain Brisbon, 34
Source:Getty
30 of 56
31. Jerame Reid, 36
Source:Getty
31 of 56
32. Charly Keunang, 43
Source:Getty
32 of 56
33. Tony Robinson, 19
Source:Getty
33 of 56
34. Walter Scott, 50
Source:Getty
34 of 56
35. Freddie Gray, 25
Source:Getty
35 of 56
36. Brendon Glenn, 29
Source:Getty
36 of 56
37. Samuel DuBose, 43
Source:Getty
37 of 56
38. Christian Taylor, 19
Source:Getty
38 of 56
39. Jamar Clark, 24
Source:Getty
39 of 56
40. Mario Woods, 26
Source:Getty
40 of 56
41. Quintonio LeGrier, 19
Source:Getty
41 of 56
42. Gregory Gunn, 58
Source:Getty
42 of 56
43. Akiel Denkins, 24
Source:Getty
43 of 56
44. Alton Sterling, 37
Source:Getty
44 of 56
45. Philando Castile, 32
Source:Getty
45 of 56
46. Terrence Sterling, 31
Source:Getty
46 of 56
47. Terence Crutcher, 40
Source:Getty
47 of 56
48. Keith Lamont Scott, 43
Source:Getty
48 of 56
49. Alfred Olango, 38
Source:Getty
49 of 56
50. Jordan Edwards, 15
Source:Getty
50 of 56
51. Stephon Clark, 22
Source:false 51 of 5652. Danny Ray Thomas, 34
Source:false 52 of 5653. DeJuan Guillory, 27
Source:false 53 of 5654. Patrick Harmon, 50
54 of 5655. Jonathan Hart, 21
55 of 5656. Maurice Granton, 24
56 of 56
Continue reading 56 Black Men And Boys Killed By Police
56 Black Men And Boys Killed By Police
The troubling trend of police killing unarmed Black people has shown no signs of letting up, from Tamir Rice to Botham Shem Jean to Emantic "EJ" Fitzgerald Bradford Jr.,, there appears to be nearly a new shooting every week. See Also: Alabama Cops Never Notified EJ Bradford’s Family After Mistakenly Killing Him, Aunt Says Take a look below at the growing gallery of unarmed Black men and boys who have been shot and killed by police.
Unbelivable: Unarmed Black Therapist Shot While Calming Autistic Man was originally published on newsone.com
