Miami - An unarmed black carer was shot by police as he lay on the ground with his hands in the air while trying to calm his autistic patient.
Charles Kinsey, 47, who was hit in his right leg before being handcuffed, said that when he asked the officer who shot him why he had opened fire, the policeman replied: “I don’t know.”
The incident comes amid rising racial tensions in America, with polls showing that they are at their worst levels since the Los Angeles riots in 1992.
On Sunday three police officers were shot dead and three were injured when a black gunman went on the rampage in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
A video of the latest incident in Miami, Florida, shows Kinsey telling officers his patient has behavioural problems and that he is there to look after him.
He told journalists: “When I went to the ground, I went to the ground with my hands up.
“And I am lying there just like this, telling them again there is no need for firearms. As long as I’ve got my hands up, they’re not going to shoot me – that’s what I’m thinking. Wow, was I wrong.”
Kinsey, a behavioural therapist who works at a specialist home, went into the street when the 23-year-old autistic patient walked out and was trying to coax him back.
Police said they responded after reports that a disturbed man was walking around with a gun threatening to kill himself on Monday.
But Kinsey said his patient had been playing with a toy truck and he was more worried about him being shot than himself. The video of the incident shows the therapist lying on his back in the middle of the street with his hands in the air above his head.
He is heard saying: “All he has is a toy truck. A toy truck. I am a behaviour therapist at a group home.”
Three shots ring out, one of which hit Kinsey. He was left for 20 minutes before police handcuffed him and took him to hospital.
Kinsey said: “I’m saying, “Sir, why did you shoot me?” And his words to me were, ‘I don’t know’.”
The North Miami Police Department said the officer, who has not been named, has been placed on administrative leave.
Kinsey’s lawyer, Hilton Napoleon II, said: “There is no justification to shoot an unarmed man on the ground with his hands in the air who is telling you no one has a gun and the person here is autistic.
“He felt like he did everything he could possibly do and that wasn’t good enough.”
Kinsey’s wife Joyce said: “I’m just grateful he’s alive and able to tell his story.”
North Miami police said: “Arriving officers attempted to negotiate with the two men on the scene, one of whom was later identified as suffering from autism.
“At some point during the negotiation, one of the responding officers discharged his weapon.”
America has been rocked by protests over police killings since the shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 19-year-old, in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014.
Baton Rouge has become the focus of recent protests after the death of Alton Sterling, a black man shot by a white policeman.
The three officers shot in the city on Sunday were killed by Gavin Long, 29, a black man.
Earlier this month five white police officers were fatally shot and seven others injured by a black militant in Dallas, Texas.
Daily Mail