Independent Investigation Underway After Police Shoot Mental Health Caretaker
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the circumstances that led to the officer-involved shooting of an unarmed caregiver who was assisting an autistic patient that wandered away from an assisted living facility in Miami.
Cellphone video showed Charles Kinsey, an employee at Miami Achievement Center for the Developmentally Disabled, laying flat on his back on the street, arms raised into the air, as he's confronted by North Miami Police.
Sitting next to him was his 24-year-old autistic client, apparently holding a toy truck. His short outbursts at Kinsey to "shut up" could be heard on video.
Police said they received a 911 call about a man with a gun attempting to harm himself.
"He has a toy truck," Kinsey is heard shouting to officers, while still on the ground. "I am a behavior tech at the group home. That's all it is."
Despite a calm Kinsey pleading with officers that his client didn't have a weapon, three shots were fired by police, striking Kinsey, a black man, in the leg.
According to Kinsey's attorney, Hilton Napoleon, Kinsey spoke to the officer who pulled the trigger.
"He asked the officer, 'why did you shoot me?' And the officer said 'I don't know,'" said Napoleon.
Kinsey called his step-daughter, Kookie Maffett, while doctors patched him up.
"He was like, 'they shot me, they shot me,'" she said. "And I was like, 'what?' And he's like, 'the police shot me.' And I just freaked out."
At a news conference Thursday afternoon, July 21st, North Miami Police Chief Gary Eugene called for the FDLE to investigate independently.
"Bringing in an outside agency shows our commitment to transparency and objectivity in a very sensitive matter," said Eugene, who didn't take any questions from the media and offered little details about the incident.
Congresswoman Frederica Wilson was at the conference and described the video as "shocking" and a "nightmare."
"From what I saw, he was laying on the ground, with his hands up, freezing. Being rational. And he was still shot, said Wilson.
The State Attorney's Office said they will be conducting their own investigation once the FDLE completes theirs.
"At that time, we will conduct our own investigation and review all of the evidence to determine whether the actions of the shooting officer constitute a criminal act that can be proven beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt," said Katherine Fernandez Rundle. "We will release detailed information about all of the evidence once our investigation is complete."
Kinsey was released from the hospital on Thursday.
