Stun guns are supposed to be a non-lethal alternative to handguns, but people are still dying after being tased by police. Taser International insists that its weapons are almost never to blame when someone dies after being stunned, but a new Reuters investigation suggests otherwise. While some victims have underlying heart issues, in over 150 cases the taser was listed on autopsies as the cause of death or as a contributing factor.
From Reuters:
Read Full Article »Reuters documented 1,005 incidents in the United States in which people died after police stunned them with Tasers, nearly all since the early 2000s – the most thorough accounting to date of fatal encounters involving the paralyzing stun guns.
Many of the casualties are among society's vulnerable. A quarter of the people who died, like Schrock, were suffering from a mental health breakdown or neurological disorder. In nine of every 10 incidents, the deceased was unarmed. More than 100 of the fatal encounters began with a 911 call for help during a medical emergency.
