Tiffany Crawford (Canwest News Service) - An Ontario man is dead after Ontario Provincial Police used a Taser after they said the man became combative and disturbed others.
The OPP said the incident happened Monday morning after police responded to a call of a disturbance in Norfolk County, about 130 kilometres southwest of Toronto.
The Taser incident reportedly happened at the hamlet of Turkey Point, which features a three-kilometre long sandy beach on Lake Erie popular for fishing and hiking. The hamlet is home to very few year-round residents.
“During the encounter, police deployed a conducted energy weapon,” provincial police said in a statement Monday.
Officers said ambulance personnel attended the scene and the man was taken into police custody. He was then transported to the Norfolk County OPP detachment, where he collapsed.
Officers said they administered first aid until the ambulance arrived. The male was transported to Norfolk General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A spokesman for the OPP, Sgt. Pierre Chamberland, refused to divulge the name or age of the dead man.
He said the police had no further comment on the matter, adding that because he died while in police custody, Ontario’s Special Investigation Unit is investigating.
The SIU is an independent agency that investigates incidents involving police in which people are hurt or killed.
Since 2003, there have been 20 Taser-related deaths in Canada. More than 300 people across North America have died.
The RCMP’s watchdog released a report last week saying he wants stricter guidelines on the use of Tasers, but did not recommend an outright ban, or moratorium, on the weapons.
Paul Kennedy, chair of the RCMP’s public complaints commission, said he supports the continued use of the stun gun, but only if the RCMP implements all of the recommendations contained in the commission’s report.
Kennedy wants Tasers classified as “impact weapons,” and to only be allowed in situations where the person is combative or poses a risk of death or major harm to the officer, themselves or the public.
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day asked the commission to look into RCMP use of Tasers after the high-profile death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport last fall.
Dziekanski died following an encounter with RCMP officers who used a Taser on him.
Video of the incident sparked international outrage, debate over use of the devices and several investigations.
The RCMP has been using the weapon since 2001.
4 responses so far ↓
1 RCMP Watch // Jun 26, 2008 at 07:04
Canadian man dies after being Tasered by police
Simcoe, Ontario (Associated Press) — A Canadian citizen’s group said Tuesday that it was investigating the death of a man shortly after police used a Taser gun to subdue him — the latest in a rash of deaths involving the high-voltage weapons.
The death Monday of Jeffrey Mark Marreel, who was arrested after allegedly causing a disturbance in southwestern Ontario, was the 21st Canadaian fatality in someone recently Tasered.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said last week that officers will have clearer direction on how and when the powerful weapons are wielded as soon as possible, following renewed calls for action by the RCMP complaints commission.
The 50,000-volt weapons can be shot from a distance of several feet and cycled repeatedly once steel probes puncture a suspect’s skin or clothing.
The guns can also be fired repeatedly in up-close stun mode — a pain likened to leaning on a hot stove.
Arizona-based manufacturer Taser International points out that the weapons have never been directly blamed for a death, though they have been cited as contributing factors.
Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died in October after he was repeatedly zapped by officers at Vancouver International Airport.
The death brought international attention and intense criticism after video of the incident was released showing that Dziekanski had not been combative or hostile.
2 Deepthroat // Jun 26, 2008 at 14:21
The guy in Chilliwack died 2 days later. Where is the cutoff for “dies after being tasered”? One hour, 10 minutes, immediately, a week later?
3 CstBentonFraser // Jun 26, 2008 at 19:30
Deepthroat:
Take a look at post #2 (link below) on this very site. and you will have your answer.
http://www.rcmpwatch.com/mounties-strip-details-from-taser-reports/
I am surprised someone as knowledgeable and well informed as yourself wouldn’t have already known this.
B.F.
4 Deepthroat // Jun 27, 2008 at 16:24
The question posed is rhetorical and sarcastic. Meaning that any time somebodies dies after being tasered by the cops, there will be those that use the death as proof of the taser being lethal, no matter how far fetched. My apologies for not being clearer for you.
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