When his autistic patient wandered away from a residential center for people with disabilities, Charles Kinsey found him and tried to convince him to return. The autistic patient, who was holding a toy truck, became distressed. A neighbor nearby mistook the shiny toy truck for a gun and called police. What happened next is shocking.

Watch this video (captured by a cell phone) to see the incident.

When police arrived, they also thought the patient had a gun. They yelled at Mr. Kinsey to get on the ground and put his hands up. Sitting nearby, the still distressed patient rocked back and forth, holding the toy truck. Mr. Kinsey yelled at the police that he was a therapist, and that his patient was not dangerous and did NOT have a gun. He was concerned that police would shoot his patient, who was really not a threat. He was not at all worried for his own safety. Moments later, Mr. Kinsey was shot in the leg by a policeman. Later, Mr. Kinsey told reporters what he was thinking as he lay on the ground, “As long as I’ve got my hands up, they’re not gonna shoot me, that’s what I’m thinking,” he said. “Wow, was I wrong.”

Police then moved in, cuffed Mr. Kinsey and held him on the ground for about 20 minutes. All the while, he was bleeding from a gunshot wound. When Mr. Kinsey asked the officer why he shot him, the officer replied, “I don’t know.” A spokesperson for the police department later told reporters that the officer had intended to shoot the patient and mistakenly hit Mr. Kinsey instead.

What are your thoughts about this?

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