The Latest: North Miami police commander suspended

NORTH MIAMI, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on the police shooting of an unarmed black mental health worker in North Miami (all times local):

3 p.m.

A North Miami police commander has been suspended for allegedly fabricating information about the shooting of an unarmed black therapist.

City Manager Larry Spring Jr. said Friday that commander Emile Hollant is suspended without pay. Spring declined to give specifics about how Hollant allegedly fabricated information about Monday’s shooting of Charles Kinsey by Officer Jonathan Aledda.

Aledda has been placed on paid administrative leave while the shooting is investigated. His race has not been released.

Kinsey was trying coax an autistic man back to a group home when he was shot in the middle of an intersection. He says he was on the ground with his hands in the air when he was shot. Cellphone video shows him with his hands raised moments before the shooting.

A union official has said the officer was aiming for the autistic man because he thought he was a threat, but the officer missed and hit the therapist.

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8:45 a.m.

The head of the Miami Police Benevolent Association says the North Miami police officer who shot an unarmed black mental health worker was actually aiming at the man’s autistic patient who was sitting next to him.

John Rivera told local news outlets the officer is a decorated 30-year-old Hispanic who’s also on the SWAT team. His name wasn’t released. The police department also identified the officer by age and race on a fact sheet published on its Facebook page.

Rivera says the admission is intended to help calm the fears of a nation that’s seen a number of cellphone videos of police shooting black men. He says the officer fired three times, wounding 47-year-old Charles Kinsey.

The shooting happened Monday as Kinsey said he was trying to coax the autistic man back to a group home he had wandered away from. Police responded to reports of a man with a gun threatening to kill himself. No weapon was found and an investigation continues.

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3:15 a.m.

A witness to this week’s police shooting of an unarmed black therapist says he tried to warn officers the autistic man sitting with the therapist was holding a toy truck.

Thomas Matthews says he watched the buildup to Monday’s shooting of Charles Kinsey by North Miami police officers through binoculars. He said he tried to tell an officer the object they seemed concerned about as the men sat in an intersection was a toy truck but she told him to get back. The officers fired three times, hitting Kinsey in the leg. He is recovering.

Kinsey said he was trying to coax the autistic man back to a home he had wandered from. Police said they had responded to reports of a man with a gun threatening to kill himself. No weapon was recovered. Authorities are investigating the shooting.