Shooting of Charles Kinsey
Cellphone video footage, showing mental health therapist Charles Kinsey lying on the ground with his arms raised in North Miami, Florida, before being shot by police. Kinsey's patient is seated beside him.
|
|
| Date | July 18, 2016 |
|---|---|
| Time | 5:45 p.m. |
| Location | Northeast 127th Street and 14th Avenue, North Miami, Florida, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 25.892661, -80.170422 |
| Type | Shooting |
| Filmed by | Bystander's cell phone |
| Participants | Jonathan Aledda (officer) |
| Outcome | Shooting officer charged with attempted manslaughter and negligence |
| Non-fatal injuries | Charles Kinsey |
| Accused | Jonathan Aledda |
| Charges | Attempted manslaughter, negligence |
| Litigation | Kinsey filed federal lawsuit against SWAT officer |
On July 18, 2016, Charles Kinsey, a mental health therapist, was shot by police in North Miami, Florida. Kinsey, an African-American man, had been retrieving his autistic 23-year-old patient, who had wandered from his group home. Police encountered the pair while searching for an armed suicidal man. Kinsey was lying on the ground with his hands in the air and trying to negotiate between officers and his patient when he was shot.
Both Kinsey and his patient were unarmed. Following the shooting, Kinsey stated he was handcuffed and left bleeding on the ground for 20 minutes with police giving him no medical aid. Authorities stated that they were investigating the incident, which received significant media attention following the appearance of cellphone video footage. The officer who shot Kinsey was arrested in 2017 and charged with attempted manslaughter and negligence. However, he remains employed and has not been fired.
On July 18, 2016, shortly before 5:00 p.m. EDT, a 23-year-old autistic man with a toy truck left a mental health facility, identified as MacTown Panther Group Homes. Charles Kinsey, a 47-year-old mental health worker, left the facility to find and retrieve the patient. Kinsey had worked at the facility for over a year, was involved in community efforts to keep local kids in school, and is the father of five children. According to NPR, Kinsey has been a member of the local "Circle of Brotherhood" group whose mission, as listed on Facebook, is "Serving and Protecting our Community".
The police stated that they were responding to reports of a man threatening to shoot himself in the area, at Northeast 127th Street and 14th Avenue. Police received a call around 5:30 p.m. The North Miami Assistant Police Chief, Neal Cuevas, said that the autistic man did not comply with orders when they arrived on the scene.
While Kinsey lay on the ground with his hands raised, one officer, identified by the city as Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team member Jonathan Aledda, fired three rounds from a rifle, with one bullet striking him in the leg. The shooting occurred a block from the group home where Kinsey worked at 1365 NE 128th St.
Kinsey's lawyer Hilton Napoleon II provided the Miami Herald with a cellphone video of Kinsey lying on the ground, his hands in the air, moments before the shooting. In the video Kinsey asks police not to shoot him, while his patient plays with his toy truck. Kinsey stated that he was trying to convince his patient to obey officers' commands. The video also shows Kinsey telling police that he is unarmed. In the video Kinsey is seen telling police, "All he has is a toy truck. A toy truck. I am a behavior therapist at a group home." Kinsey is also shown telling his patient, "Please be still... lay [sic] down on your stomach."
...
Wikipedia