Throwing Bullets

by digby

Your daily taser death:

A man has died in police custody today after being shocked by police Tasers, city officials said.

Officers responded to Highland and Jefferson avenues in Peaselburg neighborhood about 11 a.m. to a report of a man with a gun, Covington police Lt. Col. Spike Jones said. The initial report over police radio was that a man had put a gun into his pocket.

When confronted by at least three officers, the man refused to follow their orders, Jones said. The man became combative and started throwing things at the officers, he said. One of the things thrown was a box of bullets, Jones said.

Officers then fired Tasers at the man during the struggle to arrest him, he said.

“The officers then became very fearful for their safety,” Covington Fraternal Order of Police president Chris Gangwish said. “They deployed Tasers to try to gain control of the individual. Fortunately, the officers had the necessary means to subdue the subject although (the Tasers) were not completely effective in and of themselves.”

The man pulled the electrical probes out of his body to stop the shock, Gangwish said.

At some point during the struggle, the suspect began having “physical difficulties,” Jones said. An ambulance was called transported the man to St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Covington. Jones said medics were unable to revive the man after he stopped breathing.

“We are extremely thankful that none of our officers were injured,” Gangwish said. “Unfortunately following the arrest, the individual died.”

It’s a good thing they didn’t have to use lethal force.

Read the whole article for a rundown of other taser incidents in the area.

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