Police in Fla. shoot caretaker next to autistic man playing in street

[NWCorona]

Source: CBS

Authorities say a Florida police officer shot and wounded an autistic man's caretaker following reports of a man threatening to shoot himself.

North Miami Assistant Police Chief Neal Cuevas told The Miami Herald that officers responded to the scene Monday to find 47-year-old Charles Kinsey, a therapist who works with people with disabilities, according to WSVN-TV, trying to get his 27-year-old patient back to a facility from where he wandered.


Cuevas says police ordered Kinsey and the patient, who was sitting in the street playing with a toy truck, to lie on the ground. Kinsey lies down and puts his hands up while trying to get his patient to comply. An officer then fired three times, striking Kinsey in the leg, Cuevas said. No weapon was found.


Kinsey's attorney, Hilton Napoleon, provided a cellphone video to the Herald on Wednesday taken moments before the shooting. It shows Kinsey lying in the middle of the street with his hands up, asking the officers not to shoot him, while the autistic man sits next to him, yelling at him to "shut up."



Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/police-in-florida-shoot-caretaker-next-to-autistic-man-playing-in-the-street/

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"Sir, there's no need for firearms," Kinsey said he told police before he was shot"

[DetlefK]

1. Unprofessionalism in action.

[kristopher]

3. WTF? Unprofessional?

At the least:
malfeasance
1.
the performance by a public official of an act that is legally unjustified, harmful, or contrary to law; wrongdoing (used especially of an act in violation of a public trust).

[LanternWaste]

6. Yours is a most creative way to minimize brutality into something other than brutality.

Yours is a most creative way to minimize brutality into something other than brutality.

[DetlefK]

8. Counter-question:

If US-cops were trained to first assess the situation, then to asses what kind of weapon the suspects are carrying, then to only draw their guns if the suspects actually have a weapon, then to command them to drop the weapon, then to threaten to open fire if they don't drop the weapon, and then to aim in a way that neutralizes the suspect but minimizes the odds of killing him, how many police-shootings could have been prevented?

The US-cops are doing what they have been trained to do: Aim your gun at the suspect, ask questions later.

[LanternWaste]

15. You've countered your initial premise

You've countered your initial premise. If they are doing what they are trained to do, they are, by its very definition, professional.

[DetlefK]

16. Bad choice of words on my part. Sorry.

[msanthrope]

2. Thankfully, he's alive. And I hope the settlement he collects is massive. nt

[RandiFan1290]

4. Video

[yallerdawg]

12. "Hands up. Don't shoot."

[IronLionZion]

5. "following reports of a man threatening to shoot himself"

So the police would help with the shooting?

The dude clearly did not look threatening and they must have known the other dude playing with a toy truck wasn't dangerous because they didn't shoot him.

Maybe some colorblind DUer will come tell us all lives matter and this has nothing to do with the blackness of his skin and it's because he wasn't polite enough while lying on the ground with his hands up and no weapon.

And the fact that many white people point guns at police and don't get shot is mainly because of liberals who don't see color.

[bench scientist]

9. exactly ILZ, exactly.

[HeartoftheMidwest]

10. Judging from the angle from the cop...

...to the compliant people in the street, I'm guessing the cop was shooting at the autistic man, who was shouting and seemed ( SEEMED ) belligerent, and missed him and hit the aide.

Thank goodness both weren't killed.

And that officer needs to be fired.

As an aside, someone called in to report a man with a gun, trying to harm himself?? So did some Joe Citizen mistake the autistic man with a truck for a suicidal/homicidal man with a gun, and call that in? Or are people maliciously calling in the police, to mess with black men who are out and going about their business? Seems like the paranoia and racism of bystanders has gone way up, too.

[brush]

13. I don't think the cop apologists will show up on this one

There's nothing to even argue that this shooting was somehow justified.

Wholesale re-training of cops needed to get in their minds that shooting should be the last resort, not the first.

[jayfish]

14. That's not a sure bet.

I'm sure the terms "the recent police shootings" and "under a lot of stress" will be used. As if that's ever been an excuse for the rest of us.

[cpwm17]

23. I looked at a YouTube video of this shooting

and sure enough, there was someone there blaming the guy that got shot.

[HepKitty416]

24. You're right about the training.

My family was very involved in law enforcement when I was growing up; both parents served as deputies, and my brother and I were fortunate enough to be able to witness first-hand the training officers were given. And yes, using your gun as the very last resort WAS part of that training. I'm afraid it must not be, anymore.

Officers are weighted down with a whole host of non-lethal options to use before a gun is even considered. Their voices should be choice 1.

So many examples of inadequate training for our law enforcement professionals. Check out "Power of Habit" and "Blink" for a lot of interesting details on this topic. Gavin de Becker's "Gift of Fear" is also an incredible resource, and gives great information about quickly assessing danger and responding appropriately. This book is written for civilians, not law enforcement. Same principles, though.

We can't ignore the fact that nation-wide hyper-vigilance contributes to this problem on both sides (check out de Becker for more on that, too). We no longer know which fears are real or imagined. Nor can we ignore the contribution of the general decline of morality in our society (I hope I'm wrong on that one).

[etherealtruth]

25. I hope your confidence is not unfounded ...

... I have my doubts.

[scscholar]

32. Saw one cop apologist on Facebook blame the truck...

since the not so nice terrorist in Nice used a truck.

Notice how not a single cop in that department is speaking out against this. They are all crooked.

[auntpurl]

7. Jesus Christ.

Do you know how little money careworkers make, for doing an incredibly difficult job? This guy is making pennies taking care of some of the most difficult clients. Autistic people are often combative, difficult to control. This guy is probably hit in the face daily by his clients. While he was lying there on the street, he was trying his best to protect his client, yelling "He has a toy truck in his hand!" presumably so thepolice would know it wasn't a gun.

As a mental health professional, this is so heartbreaking to me. I'm so glad he survived and I hope he makes a fortune off this police department.

[demigoddess]

11. The caregiver is a brave, professional man.

The cop was a scaredy cat wuss. Fire the stupid cop.

[FailureToCommunicate]

17. It so often begins with a scared white person telling police there's a black guy (or child!) with a

gun. What the hell is wrong with these people?!? They need to turn off FOX news and turn off hate radio.

Same for the police.

This poor guy was just WWB -working while black. He had his client's safety foremost in his mind. He said he sure didn't expect the police to shoot HIM...

[IronLionZion]

19. It is more of a general racism among regular people

who assume that black people are more likely to be armed and dangerous criminals without actually seeing anything. Some black person on the news was a gang member drug dealer so therefore this other black person walking down the street must be just like that. That's the root of the problem. Racists imagine stuff that isn't there.

If a regular racist calls in a completely imagined report of dangerous armed criminal roaming the streets then the responding police would proceed based on the assumption that someone is armed and dangerous. It's shitty as hell, but what is the alternative? The police don't know if the caller is a racist liar.

Another reason why they fabricate the gun stories when they call the cops is because they have called previously to report black or Muslim men and were told that it is not illegal to be black or Muslim and they shouldn't call 911 unless it's a legit emergency.

[milestogo]

18. They need better screening of police officers and better training.

There are some people who just shouldn't be cops.

[avaistheone1]

20. The man that was shot is an incredible hero.

The officers judgement in this case and too many cases was beyond terrible.

[Sunlei]

21. Kinsey asked the officer, "why did you shoot me?" Officer said, "I don't know"

quote From interview of Charles Kinsey in his hospital bed.

There are way to many hyper-scared local police (due to prior military service? or the wrong training?)

[Aristus]

31. The cop said "I don't know",

because that preserves deniability better than "Because you're black. Why else would I shoot you?"

[In_The_Wind]

38. ah yup

[christx30]

22. Charge him with attempted murder. Sentence him for the maximum state penalty for that crime.

Stick a 10 year "under color of law" enhancement on it too.

I know it's not likely to happen. But I think that kind of behavior from prosecutors would go a long way toward bridging trust between the police and their communities. It shows that everyone matters. Especially since the cop couldn't even articulate the reason why he shot this man. "I don't know" is the answer to "Who left the cereal on the counter?" It's not an answer to "Why did you shoot a guy that was lying on the ground with his hands up?"

[scscholar]

33. And every single other cop in the department for being accomplices...

since not a one of them tried to stop this racist or did anything about him after he did it. They did nothing. They did nothing because of who they be. We need them to not be cops any more.

[christx30]

35. That 'thin blue line' that is supposed to protect society

from criminals. But in reality, it protects police from responsibility for their actions.
This one should be an open and shut case. If it's excused in any way, then it's time to call for the prosecutor's resignation.

[etherealtruth]

26. This is disgusting

[Vinca]

27. North Miami better be prepared to cut a big, fat check to the therapist.

And the officer should be fired and charged with attempted murder.

[6chars]

28. therapist should hire a big fat lawyer

and maximize that effin check. Never seen such a clear cut case as this one.

[Else You Are Mad]

30. Doubtful.

If the pattern continues, the only person that will see any jail time will probably be the person that released the video of the shooting.

That said, I hope he goes to jail for a good long time and is sued for everything he has.

[Else You Are Mad]

29. so when will the person that recorded this be arrested...?

Given the fact that when someone releases cell phone videos of police shootings/murders, they are hounded by police and arrested on trumped up charges.

That said, I am glad that Kinsey survived and will be able to respond to the smear job the police will inevitably use against him to show he was a thug and deserved to be shot.

[SusanLarson]

34. Here's a description I wrote

Posted this on facebook about it...

Wanna know why people are getting so pissed off about police shootings?

The black man was shot

The officer won't be charged even though he was told that they were both unarmed and the first man with his hands in the air complying, was a mental health professional; and that the second man (white) was his client and was autistic.

The white man was holding something in his hands, so they shot the black man with his hands in the air.

He was holding a toy truck that looked nothing like a weapon.

[cpwm17]

36. It was obviously deliberate since the cop fired his weapons three times:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/07/21/fla-police-shoot-black-man-with-his-hands-up-as-he-tries-to-help-autistic-patient/

“All he has is a toy truck in his hand,” Kinsey can be heard saying in the video as police officers with semiautomatic rifles hide behind telephone poles approximately 30 feet away.

“That’s all it is,” the caretaker says. “There is no need for guns.”

Seconds later, off camera, one of the officers fired his weapon three times.

A bullet tore through Kinsey’s right leg.

Any other officer there could see that there was no reason to shoot, but they all let the victim bleed, laying in the sun for 20 minutes with no assistance at all.

[undergroundpanther]

37. therapists have a hard job

If my therapist was black and was helping me through
a crisis. And my therapists and counselors have been
out in the neighborhood to help.And a stupid cop
shot my therapist I would probably end up getting
my ass shot too .Id be so upset over what happened
to my therapist.Id be yelling for the cop to get an ambulance down here now. Than after she was ok and I was walking out the Er my ptsd would kick my ass and a cop would shoot me because I look strange with green hair and a cat tail.