Canadian man dies 4 days after being Tasered

Necro

VANCOUVER, Canada -- A Canadian man died Saturday, four days after police used a Taser stun-gun on him because he reportedly was acting erratically in a store, police said. He was the third person to die in recent weeks in Canada after being shocked by the hand-held weapon.

Robert Knipstrom, 36, died in a hospital after two officers used pepper spray, a Taser and their batons to subdue the British Columbia resident. Police earlier said Knipstrom was extremely agitated, aggressive and combative with the two officers who responded. He was conscious and speaking when he was taken to the hospital.

The cause of death has yet to be determined. Although a Taser was used against Knipstrom, it was not immediately clear what role, if any, it played in his death, said Inspector Brendan Fitzpatrick.

Investigations into Knipstrom's death have been launched separately by the British Columbia Coroner's Office and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, police said at a news conference Saturday.

The case comes as Canadian police face intense criticism over the death of Robert Dziekanski, a Polish immigrant who died at Vancouver airport last month after officers used a Taser and manhandled him.

A Nova Scotian man also died earlier this week, 30 hours after being shocked with the Taser at a jail where he was being held on assault charges.

Dakstang

WC's Resident Redneck

See?

Those taser guns aren't so safe are they?

God

Super Moderator

Another chance to complain about police?

I suppose that doesnt matter & they should have told him they were going to do it?

Necro

It is weird that 3 people so far in the last few weeks have died from taser guns. Weird..

Dakstang

WC's Resident Redneck

I was not making a comment to this incident.

The officers were fully in the their rights to taser this guy. No warning necessary for someone who is being combative, the officers safety trumps that.

What I was referring to is that their are many incidents coming to light that are very questionable if whether a taser should have been used or not. It seems that the decision to use a taser is being arrived at too quickly and little or no consideration about injury to the person is being exercised.

Felix

Maintenance Worker

November 18, 2007

Here where I live, a young man was tasered recently and died.

Joseph T. Cool

Administrator

I am curious if these people were tasered near the heart or something?

Maybe it caused a heart attack for that reason?

Not sure how most can survive and only a few get critical injuries?

Swamps

Well, I haven't been trained to use a taser and I haven't been certified to use a taser. But I can say most of the time when there is a death either the officer was overly excessive and held the taser on the person for to long or either the person that was shot with a taser was having heath problems. There has even been a few cases where an individual was jacked up (PCP, Angel Dust) on something and when they were tased it killed them. I have seen many people get shot in the chest, side, legs, back, and even gentitals and the person be okay within seconds and have never seen anyone killed.