Taser sets man alight

Zambia

Thought I would share this as it never came up in any of the taser debates

In essence a bloke sniffs petrol , gets confronted by police, threatens them with said petrol and a lighter, gets shot with a taser and ignites. :eek:

It would have been one of those, double checking what you just shot him with moments.

Personnally I have no problem with the cops shooting him with anything as he has pretty much met the requirement to authorise potential lethal force to be used on him.

ABCNews wrote:

Man alight 'proves Taser risks'

Police do not believe the Taser started the fire.

The Aboriginal Legal Service in Western Australia is calling for a ban on police stun guns after a petrol sniffer caught on fire in the state's far east yesterday afternoon.

Police say the 36-year-old man burst into flames when he was shot with a Taser at the Aboriginal community of Warburton in Goldfields.

It is alleged the man was threatening officers with a container of petrol and a cigarette lighter.

The man was flown to Royal Perth Hospital with third degree burns to his face, arms and chest. He is in a critical but stable condition.

Senior police say an investigation is underway, but it is unlikely the Taser started the fire.

Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive Dennis Eggington says there is mounting proof that Tasers are dangerous.

"I think that the jury's still out on whether or not Taser is a lethal weapon in itself, particularly if you've got a part of the population that is very vulnerable to this type of electric shocks," he said.

Mr Eggington says the man was a petrol sniffer, and Tasers should not be used on Aboriginal people who suffer from a range of health problems.

"The idea of a man getting burnt and Tasers being used while there's volatile substances around is of great concern to the ALS," he said.

Warburton's community adviser, Damien McLean, says the community is distressed by the incident.

Mr McLean says there is general acceptance that the man was posing a direct threat to police.

"Whenever somebody gets burnt in an incident like this everybody's concerned," he said.

"There's an acceptance that the safety of the police is a reasonable thing and that's what Tasers are there to be used for, but of course resulting in burns, it's distressing for immediate family and others."

Source
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/21/2632077.htm

Sully

Reminds me of the CSI episode where the cops in the station used the taser on someone who in turn went up in flames.

FGR

The question still remains -

What of the man who threatens to light himself; only to be beaten down with batons/shot or possibly setting himself alight whilst officers are trying to restrain him?

Thousands of possibilities. The taser is a fantastic device which, in the long run, is safer for both suspect and officer. Imo, anyway.

Random

It's a bit bizzare and almost funny if someone hadn't died.

The cop thought he was doing the right thing with the taser no doubt and didn't have the experience / knowledge to think it might set the guy on fire.

Does it mean tasers shouldn't be used? No. Does it mean police need more education on them? Probably.