Cop who shot man with his hands up: “I did what I had to do”

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Earlier this week news out of North Miami reported that a man was shot while lying on the ground with his hands raised high in the air.

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The man, Charles Kinsey, was trying to help out his autistic patient whose actions had triggered a 911 call.

Police arrived on the scene after getting a tip that there was a man walking around acting suspicious with a gun.

The “gun” that they were looking for was actually a toy firetruck,that was fully visible during the altercation.

As Kinsey lay on his back he tried to calm down his patient while also screaming at officers that he was only holding a toy firetruck and not a deadly weapon.

The next thing Kinsey knew, he had been shot by police, who would later say that they were aiming at the man with autism.

RELATED: His hands were in the air, he was on the ground, and police still shot him

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAJRcRZPfwQ

In a statement released by the local police union, the officer responsible for Kinsey’s injuries did not backtrack on his actions.

“I took this job to save lives and help people,” the officer said in a statement.

“I did what I had to do in a split second to accomplish that and hate to hear others paint me as something I’m not.”

According to Kinsey, when he asked the officer why he had shot him the officer said that he didn’t know.

“I was really more worried about [my patient] than myself,” Kinsey later said of the situation.

“I was thinking as long as I have my hands up … they’re not going to shoot me. This is what I’m thinking, they’re not going to shoot me. Wow, was I wrong.”

h/t NBC6 Miami

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