GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. (April 25) - A woman in a wheelchair who swung knives and a hammer at relatives and police died after being shocked by a stun gun, officials said.
Police tried to talk Emily Marie Delafield, 56, into dropping the weapons before they used the Taser to subdue her Monday, Police Chief Robert Musco said. Delafield lost consciousness after the electric jolt and later died at Orange Park Medical Center.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating and an autopsy will be conducted to determine a cause of death.
The two officers involved have been put on paid administrative leave during the investigation, which is standard procedure.
Tasers deliver a 50,000-volt jolt through two barbed darts that can penetrate clothing. About 7,000 of the nation's 18,000 police agencies had them last year, and they were used by police more than 70,000 times.
Amnesty International counted 61 U.S. deaths following Taser use last year. Taser International officials disputed that count, saying it linked some deaths to Taser use when there had been no such official conclusion
2 comments:
I agree this woman probably didn't need shock therapy, but being in law enforcement now, I have really gotten a chance to see what people are really like. Don't know if it is true in this case, but in most cases, the officers have the person's complete criminal history when dealing with them. Maybe she had something in her past that made them feel that they needed to protect themselves and the other people around. Just because you are in a wheelchair does't mean that you are harmless. Love ya Shan!
I don't disagree with that...I am saying more about the tasers then the cops! I am saying they are too powerful...for a 350 pound man yeah give em that sort of jolt he might be able to take it...someone with weak structure as in sitting in a wheelchair all the time.....maybe they could turn it down! I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW....they can't turn them down...well maybe someone should think about that and have one made with a setting on it!
Like i said I know cops gotta deal with a lot and 99% of them are doing what they are taught to do....but NO ONE should die from those damn things..that is the whole point in using them instead of using a GUN! at least that is the impression I was under! Hmmm
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