Man tasered to death on Christmas Eve a block or so from my home

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The title says it all. I don't have many details yet, but while driving home on Christmas even I couldn't help but see seven or eight police cruisers cordoning off part of my neighbourhood.

I asked a cameraman who was onscene with a satellite truck what in the hell was happening, and he told me the police had responded to a call about a man who was behaving in a menacing fashion. Apparently the police then shot him with a taser.

The CFRN news report at 6 pm (which I just took a moment to watch) confirmed that the man died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. The reporter said that the police would not confirm that he had been tasered four times. A witness described the man's behaviour as erratic--yelling in the middle of the street and demanding help (for what, the witness did not know).

A few things to keep in mind:

1. This is a damned horrible Christmas Eve for at least one family, and probably many others.

2. The police have a difficult job, one I wouldn't want to perform, and deserve the same right to a presumption of innocence as the rest us.

3. It's better for the police to be using tasers than pistols, no question.

4. Tasers are potentially deadly weapons. For instance, see:
and

"Man Dies After Police Use Stun Gun on Him," and "Police back Tasers despite deaths"

"Another taser death"

and

"Another Taser Victim Dies Shortly After Shock"

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