Officer Speaks Out About Charles Kinsey Shooting

Officer speaks out on Charles Kinsey shooting

Officer Speaks Out About Charles Kinsey Shooting

Through his union, the officer who shot Charles Kinsey is giving his side of the story. John Rivera, president of the Dade County Police Benevolent Association, announced that the shooting was “accidental.” At the time of the shooting, the officer had actually been aiming for the man sitting on the ground next to Kinsey. Rivera advised that the officer believed that Kinsey’s life was in danger.

Earlier this week, police officers were dispatched to a call of a man with a gun, threatening suicide. Behavioral Therapist Charles Kinsey was with his autistic client, Rinaldo. Rinaldo was visibly agitated and carrying an object in his hand which turned out to be a toy truck. Police officers arrived and Charles Kinsey laid on his back with his arms up in the air. Video of the incident did not cover the actual time of the shooting.

Here is the video:

We had previously suspected that the officer had been aiming for Rinaldo. We didn’t want to voice this suspicion too soon, because the officer was armed with a rifle. Any competent shooter should have been able to make that shot with a rifle, and there was little explanation for why Kinsey would be hit in the leg.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with firearms, it may have been difficult for a skilled shooter to use a pistol to strike a target at the distance between the officers and Rinaldo. However, that same shot is relatively easy with a rifle. For the officer to miss three rounds and be so far off that he fired them into Kinsey’s leg, the officer must be a horrible shot; it calls into question how frequently this officer has shot his rifle.

Hero

The union’s statement did not contradict Kinsey’s version of events, so we can only conclude at this point that Kinsey’s account is accurate. The hero in this incident is Charles Kinsey. He went into the road and stayed with his client to ensure that he wouldn’t be hurt. Kinsey did everything right, and he should never have been shot. Had Charles Kinsey not been with his client, there’s no telling what would have happened. Thank you, Charles Kinsey, for protecting your client.

Why Did This Happen?

In hindsight we know that Rinaldo was not actually a threat. However, the officer did not know that at the time. The officers were dispatched to a suicidal man with a gun, and upon their arrival, they saw an agitated man acting bizarrely. Rinaldo was holding an object that appeared to possibly be a gun. An armed suicidal man with a gun is a very extreme threat. There has been a 72% increase in officers killed this year, and police officers are on-edge when dealing with any situation where weapons may be involved. With the recent attacks on police, in addition to the circumstances in this incident, there’s no doubt that the officer had to be on-edge.

While he was on-edge, the officer failed to properly assess this situation. There were indicators that this situation was not as originally reported. It appeared that this officer continued to react to the call as it was originally dispatched, and he did not take the time to stop and assess the situation.

Had the officer properly assessed the situation, nobody would have been shot.

This Is A Nation-wide issue

From the officer’s failure to assess the situation, failure to recognize a person with a mental disability, and his exceptionally poor aim, we can only conclude that this officer had a severe lack of training. Police officers are constantly asking for more training, and departments want to give their officers more training, but there is not enough money available to provide a sufficient amount of ongoing training to police officers.

Conclusion

Had this officer received a sufficient amount of training, and had he not been on-edge, he likely would have stopped to assess the situation properly. This officer made a significant mistake. Hopefully we can move forward by ensuring that our police departments get the funding needed for training, and officers will be able to relax when people stop trying to assassinate us.