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18-Year-Old Dies After Being Stunned by U. of Cincinnati Police Officer’s Taser

August 6, 2011, 10:35 pm

An 18-year-old student suffered a heart attack and died Saturday after University of Cincinnati police officers used a Taser on him, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. The student, who was attending college-prep classes at the university, approached officers investigating a report of an assault, police said, and did not stop when officers warned him not to come closer. The Taser stunned him. He died after paramedics arrived to check his condition.

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  • Guest

    This is a very disturbing event and I hope an investigation is forthcoming. I pray for the young man’s family and hope that the policeman is not judged unfairly.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_RSRD4KFLLVQHEM4QYHLLFBQR6M chaz

    What the hell is wrong with police??  They can’t talk with people anymore?

  • 22259152

    Why don’t people listen when they are told to stop?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Antsy-Kuhnwisse/100002159499682 Antsy Kuhnwisse

    Suppose he thought he knew the victim?  That maybe it was his brother or sister or girlfriend who might have been mortally injured, and it could be his last chance to see the victim alive?

    Or maybe he was just being stupid or obnoxious.  Is that any reason to taser someone?  If so, Heaven help us all.

  • dlws8607

    If we are going to play “let’s pretend,” suppose he had a gun or knife and planned to attack the victim or police investigating the crime.  

  • 22259152

    Yes, that is a reason to taser someone. Would you rather they shoot them? Or get involved in a fight that injures the officer?

  • bb_appletree

    You’ve got to be kidding. Physically restraining and abusing someone is not a good way to negotiate your way through life. In fact it only escalates a situation.

    This kid was a wrestler and probably scared these officers because he knew how to protect himself. They felt they needed to compensate for it and used aggrevated means to do so.

    This officer will live the rest of his life knowing that he took a childs life and will try to justify it by claiming that it was the best decision, but the officer is a moron and is wrong.

  • seannotkelly

    Imagine how the officers feel who are trained that the taser won’t permanently hurt someone?  Likely s/he didn’t make the call for that police dept to adopt tasers.  Someone higher up judged the literature from industry and police rags and made the call.  Then s/he told all the officers they’re safe to use.

    Truly sad.

  • bb_appletree

    Any officer who kills another human being should be put on trial and judged by folks outside of the police department. EVERY officer who kills someone.

    The jury could then determine if the death is justified or not. Having a badge does not give someone a license to kill even accidently. This should be treated as a homicide case.

    Police officers would change their minds about using their weapons so freely if we moved to a system that truly held them accountable.

  • badger74

    What is wrong with people who think the cops are kidding when they tell you to stop during an investigation? You just sit down and shut up and you will be fine 99.99999999999999% of the time.

  • bigjoe

    Why do the University police have such weapons when they can and will call the Cincinnati Police if anything serious happens.  Take their guns and give them a ticket pad because that is all that most university police are really trained to safely perform.

  • greenhills73

    My university police department has 25 officers and to my knowledge they do not have tasers but they all wear guns.

  • norton95

    Moron – seriously that is a harsh judgment since you were not there and do NOT know what occurred. The officers were responding to the report of an assault at 3 am. How are they supposed to know that this young man graduated in the top 10% of his class and was a wrestler. Do you honestly think they knew him on sight and knew all of his accomplishments?

    From the linked Cincinnati Enquirer article, the officers state he appeared angry and approached with balled fist. That is not a form that any high school wrestler is taught so why even think the officers would be worried he was a wrestler who could overtake them. What they did know was they were called to the scene of an assault, did not know who or how many aggressors were involved, and ordered this young man to stop. He did not and continued toward them in an agitated state.

    The linked article also states, that after the taser was used, he was breathing and his heart rate seemed fine but he was incoherent. The officers called for paramedics.

    And now there are two investigation underway and the use of tasers has been suspended pending the outcome. None of this from public pressure, simply the police department ensuring they follow proper procedure.

    If these officers have acted in bad faith, it is reasonable to believe one or both reports will indicate this. Until then, it is not unreasonable to believe the officer involved in this is distraught (as stated in the Enquirer article) and not a moron.

  • yellow1

    Mine too. As a campus police department, all are certified officers (or they couldn’t carry the guns, have badges, and write “real” tickets–something besides parking). All have guns, and I would imagine every officer would rather take the chance with a taser being non lethal 99.9% of the time than having to shoot someone (since they are trained to shoot at center body mass). Most officers who carry tasers have been tased as part of their training.

    Of course the situation is awful, just as cases where bean bag devices have been deployed during riots resulting in death or serious injury. These are freak occurences, so it is a headline. The thousand other suspects tased last week most likely survived. The bean bag should stun or knock down, not kill. Sometimes, again probably 1% or less, the non lethal devices kill or seriously injure. The reverse is true as well. We all see and hear about stories when 4-6 bullets did not kill someone. Usually, one bullet does kill.

  • yellow1

    Our officers all wear bullet proof vests under their uniform shirts along with those guns every day. Sadly, I think our campus PD officers must plan for and assume the worst.

  • bb_appletree

    Stories like this really get to me. Why do we tend to blame the victim. Sure, an adult would know better than to speak their mind around a police officer. Police officers have the ability to strip your rights, but not before provoking you to do or say something to give them an excuse. Why should we take the police officers word for it. They are looking out for themselves and their partner.

    True, the kid could have been angry about something, but does that justify using force? That is what an investigation will determine. What we will find out is that the officer will get to go back to work. If any other person without a badge did this, they would lose their job and most likely spend time in prison.

    Let’s not blame the victim for acting like a free person (He’s a kid). Let’s not assume that the police officers were in any grave threat. If you have never been mistreated by an officer of the law than you have no idea what they are capable of. Death is just a sad part of their routine.

    This boys family is going to have live through it.

  • 22259152

    Because they are there to protect the campus.   If you do not want to be protected, that is your right.  As for me, let them carry all that they can in order to protect me.  The Cincinnati police will arrive and conduct the investigation.  They will not be there in time to save you.

  • 22259152

    Are you for real?  Lets put you on trial for the courses you teach and have the public determine whether you are fit to teach.

    They are held accountable.  They die every day for you.  Will you die to protect your students?

  • bb_appletree

    Yes!

  • 22259152

    If you have no means to protect them, then dieing for them is a waste because they will die as well.  You need to protect them.

  • bb_appletree

    Protect from who? In this case the police.

    As for the random nutcase that shoots at crowds. Regular security at a campus isn’t going to stop them. They don’t the weapons training that a SWAT team or military unit might have.

    Stop being so scared.

  • badger74

    It is not a negotiation. They were trying to sort out an assualt report and everyone there is a suspect until proven otherwise. You just shut up and cooperate. It’s not a debate. 18 is not a child either. It’s a fully grown young adult.

  • aci07

    Just to remind you that at Virginia tech, the beat cops where the ones that stopped the shooter. There wasn’t time for swat to be called in. And the campus police chief was part of one of the two entry teams that stopped the murderous rampage.

  • aci07

    We do have no idea what anyone is capable of. Sadly it appears that this was not this 18year old’s first time being tased. I want to know what the coroner comes out with, because as a society we need to know if the taser is a safe choice when calling upon police to respond to dangerous situations. If the taser isn’t safe then they will have to go back to using batons, which is a much scarier tool in my opinion.

  • panacea

    Why do you hate the police so much?  You are judging them guilty until proven innocent with your “they are looking out for themselves” comment.

    Yes, they were justified in using force if the young man came at them with a balled fist.  That is a clear indicator of an impending attack.  If someone came at me with a balled fist, I’d sure go into a defensive posture.  Police are no different.

    You say don’t blame the victim, but we really don’t know this young man (man, not a child) is a victim because the investigation has not been completed.

    Another thing.  Above, you said:

    “As for the random nutcase that shoots at crowds. Regular security at a
    campus isn’t going to stop them. They don’t the weapons training that a
    SWAT team or military unit might have.”

    Most if not all University, college, even community college police are ACTUAL CERTIFIED law enforcement officers.  They get the same police training EVERY cop gets, including a very difficult course in the safe use of fire arms, which includes a “Hogan’s Alley” component.  They get the same kind of training the military gets, which a focus on the proper use of arms in a public safety setting (the military trains solely to kill while the police do not).  Police officers have to recertify on fire arms yearly.

    Tazer, while they have their problems, were designed to replace hand guns in dangerous situations that previously might have resulted in an actual shooting.  If that officer had not had a Tazer, protocol might have demanded he shoot that young man with a real gun.

    It’s sad that this young man died.  But to automatically condemn the police is putting the cart before the horse.

  • timloyd

    BB_appletree:  You’re making the same general assumption that our current President made when he said, “The Cambridge Police responded stupidly” when he was referring to the Professor Gates situation. 

    Unless you were there, you don’t know what the situation was.

  • ardollamh

    This is the third or fourth time in the past 3 months I have heard of somebody being killed by these “safe” devices. There are at least two issues here: 1) police all over the country are resorting to force (sometimes deadly force) too quickly; 2) they are being mislead into believing that Tasers are harmless.

  • ardollamh

    Badger wrote, “You just sit down and shut up” …

    And if you don’t the cops kill you?

    Is that the kind of country we live in now?

  • wendyxqm

    This is just an example of how out of control our police state is. Rather than using training to talk with people, police kill and maim with impunity. Look at the UK situation. People have had enough of the police killings.

  • panacea

    That’s not what badger said.  What he said was, people who cooperate with the police move and and go about their business no fuss no muss the vast majority of the time.

    Law enforcement is very dangerous work.  They have to take control of potentially dangerous situations to maintain the safety of themselves, and everyone else around them.

    The public treats the police like the enemy.  Which is why a traffic stop is the most dangerous thing a police officer does.

  • panacea

    That’s an over generalization.  We do not live in a police state, not those of us here in the US or those of us in the UK.  If that were so, people would not get bail, would disappear in the night, and no one would riot when a cop killed someone.

    Shootings by police are rare . . . . that’s why they get such public notice and attention.  And the fact that they do is also proof we do not live in a police state.  Anytime a police officer uses a weapon, he must write a use of force report.  Even if he simply draws a weapon but does not use it.  Any time a gun is fired, an investigation is done.

    Police get plenty of scrutiny.  That doesn’t eliminate all bad cops, but it does throw sunshine on what police do, and that’s a good thing.

  • panacea

    It may well be that there are dangers to Tasers that were downplayed to the public and to law enforcement agencies that adopted them.

    But even so, the risks of death or serious injury from a Taser is far, far lower than that from a fire arm.

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