Fla. to probe police shooting of unarmed mental health worker
NORTH MIAMI, Fla. -- Police in North Miami have turned over the investigation into the shooting Monday of an autistic man's unarmed caregiver to state officials.
Speaking briefly at press conference on Thursday, North Miami Police Chief Gary Eugene said the investigation into the shooting of Charles Kinsey has been turned over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the state attorney's office.
"You have questions, the community has questions, we as a city and a police department have questions, and I have questions," Eugene said, referring to the shooting.
Cellphone videos showed the moments before and after Kinsey was shot while lying on the ground in North Miami. Kinsey, his hands in the air, could be heard pleading with police to not use their guns, and with his adult autistic patient to pay attention to the officers.
Kinsey was unarmed, as was the young man in his twenties, who sat cross-legged while holding a white toy truck. Officers at the scene were responding to a 5 p.m. report of a suicidal man with a gun, according to Eugene.
"Our officers responded to the scene with that threat in mind," Eugene said.
But as the patient sat in the road with his toy, Kinsey tried to clear up the situation. Shouting from this back that he was an autism therapist, trying to get his patient out of the street.
Moments later an officer opened fire, striking Kinsey in the leg.
A second video shows the aftermath, as officers with long guns searched both men. Kinsey's lawyer told CBS News that he remained on the ground for 20 minutes before receiving treatment for his gunshot wound.
The officer who shot Kinsey has been placed on paid administrative leave.
Eugene declined at the press conference Thursday to name the officer, and left after a few minutes, but Congresswoman Frederica Wilson spoke after Eugene left.
"The video is like a nightmare. I can't believe it," Wilson said.
"What else could we have told him? What could have saved him from being shot? From what I saw, he was lying on the ground, with his hands up, freezing, being rational, and he was still shot," Wilson said. "Something is not right with that picture."