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Man dies after Taser incident at Vancouver airport
Updated Sun. Oct. 14 2007 9:54 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
RCMP have confirmed they used a Taser on an out-of-control man who died at the Vancouver International Airport early Sunday morning.
Police were called to the
international arrival area of the airport at about 1:28 a.m. on Sunday after airport security officers were unable to calm the man down and his level of violence was escalating.
The man, a Caucasian in his late 30s to early 40s,
was yelling in an eastern European accent, sweating profusely, throwing chairs and pounding on windows, according to police.
"No one could understand why he was doing this," RCMP Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre told CTV.ca.
At one point the man grabbed a computer from a desk and threw it down.
When police who arrived at the scene they were equally unsuccessful at calming him.
When the man picked up an object from a counter, a trained officer pulled a conducted energy weapon -- commonly known as a Taser -- from his holster and deployed it.
The man was struck by the weapon's two probes and fell to the ground, but was still combative, said Lemaitre.
Three officers then attempted to restrain the man, who continued fighting with police, even after a fourth officer managed to handcuff him.
He then slipped into unconsciousness.
It was when the emergency medical services were at the scene that he died.
Lemaitre said police do not believe the Taser was responsible for his death.
"In any death that is related in any way, shape or form to the actions of an RCMP officer, we have the integrated homicide investigations unit," Lemaitre said, referring to the service's civilian oversight body.
"Their job is to establish every single thing that happened prior to that man's passing away."
Taser-related deaths are often attributed to a drug-induced state. Lemaitre said the officers involved had no way of knowing if there were drugs in the man's system.
At this stage it is not know if his actions were drug-induced or related to mental or emotional health.
Tasers fire two barbs attached to a wire that deliver a 50,000-volt shock on contact for up to five seconds. The weapon is meant to immobilize aggressors by shocking their muscles.
"In this case, based on all the behaviour that (our officers saw), they needed to subdue this individual in a non-lethal manner, and that's what the conducted energy weapon is (for)."
Police, said Lemaitre, spoke to several witnesses that were at the international arrival gate, and "the story so far is very consistent that this guy was just out of control."
The coroner's office will conduct an autopsy on Monday.
The Mounties, who are working closely with Interpol, have the man's passport, but are not releasing the name as they first have to notify his family as well as determine whether the document is legitimate.
Lemaitre encourages anyone who was on the flight and has not yet spoken to police to contact the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team Tipline at 1-877-543-9217 with any information they can provide.
At least 16 people have died in Canada in Taser-related incidents since police began using the weapons in 2001, but Lemaitre said it's believed that this is the first time the weapon has been used at an airport.
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