Cop Who Shot Therapist Says He Was Aiming for Autistic Patient: 'I Took This Job to Save Lives'

A Florida police officer who shot a man whose hands were raised in North Miami has broken his silence, trying to explain what went wrong.

Read: Cop Shoots Unarmed Black Mental Health Worker - Who Had His Hands Up - as He Cared for Autistic Man

Charles Kinsey, a behavioral therapist, was shot in the leg after somebody called 911 to report a man sitting in the road and holding a gun, on Monday.

Kinsey, unarmed, was helping his patient, an autistic man. The incident was captured on cell phone video and spread like wild fire once it went online. 

The cop says he was aiming at the autistic man but missed and hit Kinsey, who had his hands up while trying to explain that the patient was holding a toy truck, not a weapon.

"I took this job to save lives and help people," Officer Jonathan Aledda said in a statement released Thursday. "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."

On Friday, Miami-Dade County Police Benevolent Association president John Rivera said: “The movement of the white individual looked like he was getting ready to charge a firearm into Mr. Kinsey and the officer discharged, trying to strike and stop the white male, and unfortunately, he missed.”

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Aledda is a four-year veteran of the force and also a member of the SWAT Team.

“This is a case where a police officer was trying to save Mr. Kinsey’s life, and unfortunately, his shot went astray,” Rivera said.

The police chief has launched an investigation.

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