Jonathan Aledda has been identified by North Miami police as the cop who shot a therapist while aiming for an autistic man’s head.
Police responded to a 911 report of a man holding a gun while attempting suicide on Monday.
Video footage from a cellphone shows Charles Kinsey, a behavioral therapist for the disabled, lying on his back in the street with his arms raised.
His troubled patient sat on the pavement beside him playing with a toy truck. Neither man made any threatening gestures toward the police.
The 23-year-old patient had run away from a group home earlier and Kinsey was trying to persuade him to return.
Police say Officer Aledda “mistakenly” shot Kinsey in the leg while aiming for his patient.
Aledda was placed on administrative leave but protestors are demanding his termination. They said a cop who can’t shoot straight is a liability to the police department and a danger to the community.
Aledda, 30, served four years as a member of Miami’s SWAT unit.
The NY Daily News reports that Aledda wasn’t initially identified because he was the target of death threats.
A second officer was suspended without pay for lying about the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
The police chief held a press conference 4 days after the shooting when cellphone video went viral on social media.
Kinsey’s employer at the MacTown group home for the developmentally disabled, Clint Bower, said he was specifically chosen to work one-on-one with the patient.
“He’s received extensive crisis intervention training. Unfortunately, our police department doesn’t seem to receive that same training,” said Bower. “Charles is a hero to us here at MacTown and to all the community here in Miami,” he added.
