A Florida man is recovering after he was shot by a Miami police officer Monday while helping an autistic patient.
Charles Kinsey’s uncle, Daniel Kinsey, is a pastor at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Lubbock.
Video footage shows Charles Kinsey, 47, a behavioral therapist lying down in the street, on his back with his
hands up when police were called to the incident.
Kinsey yelled at officers in an attempt to tell them he was unarmed, but after several minutes he was shot in the leg.
“He is doing OK,” Pastor Kinsey said. “He knows that he is going to survive. He is a little shaken over the fact that–his question to me was ‘Uncle Danny what else could I have done to keep from getting shot?’ And I said ‘Charles you couldn’t have done nothing else.'”
Pastor Kinsey said his nephew was handcuffed and left lying in the street for 20 minutes until an ambulance arrived.
At a press conference Thursday, a spokesperson for the Miami officer involved in the shooting offered an explanation.
“It appeared to the officers that the white male was trying to do harm to Mr. Kinsey,” John Rivera, President of Dade County PBA said. “The officers realizing and believing there was a firearm and many officers thought the while male had a firearm. Only much later when we’re able to Monday morning quarterback do we find out that it’s a toy.”
“He knows he made a mistake,” Pastor Kinsey said. “He did wrong. He shot an innocent, unarmed man-there should be some consequences….One of the excuses he made is he missed. He was actually aiming for the other guy. No. That is not what happened and we know that is not what happened.”
Pastor Kinsey called the shooting negligent and said action must be taken, but despite his family’s tragedy he does not want anyone to use the incident as an excuse for revenge.
“What we need to do now is concentrate on more training for the officers,” Pastor Kinsey said. “Because I have nothing bad to say about an officer…I am married to one. But I think a lot of training needs to take place and if you are that unprofessional to where you are going to be spooked, to shot somebody when they’re armed you shouldn’t have a weapon, you shouldn’t even be on the police force.”
