Carer shot by police … as he lies on ground with arms up trying to calm patient

Police shot a therapist lying in the street with his hands up as he tried to look after an autistic man. Officers opened fire on Charles Kinsey as he tried to get his 27-year-old patient to return to a treatment centre in Miami, Florida. Video of the incident shows 47-year-old Mr Kinsey lying in the street on his back and with his hands in the air, while his patient plays with a toy truck and screams at him to “shut up”. Mr Kinsey can be heard shouting to the officers, who are armed with rifles: “All he has is a toy truck. I’m a behaviour therapist at a group home.” Moments later, shots were fired and Mr Kinsey was hit in the leg.

It was so surprising. It was like a mosquito bite

Police shooting victim Charles Kinsey

The video emerged as the U.S. wrestles with protests over the number of black suspects being shot by armed police. It has also been rocked by a spate of gun attacks on police, apparently in retaliation. Mr Kinsey is a member of the Circle of Brotherhood collective who do good deeds for the community and the group has demanded answers from the police. North Miami police department says it is investigating but has not released the ethnicity of the officer involved. Mr Kinsey is recovering from his injuries in Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital.

There is no justification, heightened alert or not, to shoot an unarmed man laying on the ground with his hands in the air who is telling you that no one has a gun and the person here is autistic

Mr Kinsey’s lawyer Hilton Napoleon

charles kinsey