Miami Police Officer Who Shot Unarmed Hospital Worker Admitted He Doesn't Know Why (VIDEO)
Another day, another horrifying example of police shooting an unarmed black man, this time a hospital worker who was on the ground with his hands up. But unlike the narratives that have played out across the country with police-involved shootings (wherein officers try to justify their decision to pull the trigger), the officer in this case admitted to a fellow officer he “didn’t know why he shot him.”
Video emerged Wednesday day of an altercation that occurred Monday afternoon, when two North Miami police officers responded to a call alleging someone was attempting to kill himself. When they arrived, the officers found caretaker Charles Kinsey sitting next to an autistic patient playing with a toy truck in the middle of the road. The officers drew their weapons and told the men to lie down with their hands in the air.
The video shows Kinsey pleading with the patient to “be still, sit down, lay on your stomach.” About four minutes later, one of the officers shot Kinsey. The caretaker was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the leg. He is expected to be released Thursday.
Speaking with NBC Miami, Kinsey’s attorney Hilton Napoleon said the officer admitted he didn’t know why he shot Kinsey. "My client asked, ‘why did you shoot me?’ The officer told my client, 'I don't know,' that was his words verbatim," Napoleon said.
"Another officer asked, 'Why did you shoot this guy?' and the shooting officer said he didn't know why he shot him,” Napoleon added.
"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," Napoleon said.
The unidentified officer has been placed on administrative leave.
Watch the video below, via NBC Miami.
