Florida man dies after Taser shock by police at Universal Studios

2011-04-23 04:53:15 GMT+7 (ICT)

ORLANDO, FLORIDA (BNO NEWS) -- A Florida man died on Friday after being stunned with a Taser gun by police at Universal Studios complex in Orlando.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that 33-year-old Adam Johnson died while in police custody. He was reportedly acting erratically when four off-duty police officers and another officer try to restrain him. Police said Johnson resisted violently.

He was "grabbing his beard, grabbing his head…he was being disorderly," police spokeswoman Sgt. Barbara Jones told reporters. "They ended up tussling with him".

Johnson became non-responsive after one officer used a stun gun on him. Police said the officers started CPR and called a rescue crew, but he died later in the hospital.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has received the surveillance video of the incident and is investigating, the Sentinel reported.

Tasers, which are not generally lethal, can issue a jolt of 50,000 volts. Amnesty International has determined that more than 300 people in the U.S. have died since 2001 after they were jolted by Tasers.

Orlando police officers used their Tasers 315 times in 2010, 357 times in 2009, and 278 times in 2008, according to Jones.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-04-23

Less-lethal, not non-lethal.

Even less lethal if the subject does not start grabbing people in a theatre and violently resisting security when they try to detain him.

The events described so far indicate either;

1. Psychological problem

2. Misuse of recreational chemical substances

3. Unintended drug interaction from medication

4. Organic illness induced behaviour, eg. from a brain tumour, or chemical imbalance

Without knowing the deceased's underlying health condition, e.g. defective heart, weight, blood pressure, it is difficult to comment on whether or not the taser was a contributing factor. Some people in a state of agitation have hearts that just stop working. It is an accepted physiological event.

Even less lethal if the subject does not start grabbing people in a theatre and violently resisting security when they try to detain him.

He didn't start grabbing other people. Only his own head and hair. He resisted, four of the five cops were off-duty.

Yes, maybe he had medical problems, a stroke or a seizure. The events described so far indicate the he needed help and not five cops tussling with him and using a taser gun.

Even less lethal if the subject does not start grabbing people in a theatre and violently resisting security when they try to detain him.

He didn't start grabbing other people. Only his own head and hair. He resisted, four of the five cops were off-duty.

Yes, maybe he had medical problems, a stroke or a seizure. The events described so far indicate the he needed help and not five cops tussling with him and using a taser gun.

I suggest you watch some of the interviews. He is alleged to have accosted people in a theater.