By Leila Merrill
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — For the second time in two weeks, Brevard County Fire Rescue is under investigation for a race-related incident and an allegation of inappropriate behavior, WFTV reported.
A paramedic who is a minority has been accused of telling a white gunshot victim that the part of his body where the police shot him has to do with race.
Police officers had been responding to a robbery, Fox 35 reported. The officers located a suspect, said the man ignored their commands and approached them with what they thought was a gun. Matthew Robinson, who is white, then needed to be transported to a hospital because of the gunshot wound.
“The paramedic essentially responded, ‘The reason that you were shot in the ankle as opposed to elsewhere, the torso or the head, is because of your ethnicity,’” Brevard County Commissioner Bryan Lober told the TV station.
The paramedic has been put on light duty.
A recent incident in Brevard County involved a firefighter wearing blackface at a Halloween party. The firefighter is on light duty.
Lober is calling for training in the fire department.
“I simply want them to understand what appropriate behavior in the workplace is, what’s expected of them, and just as importantly, what not to do,” he said.
Both incidents are being investigated.