Man dies after police use Taser to subdue him

Edmonton police have confirmed a man died after officers tried to subdue him with a stun gun on Wednesday.

The incident occurred at a pawn shop in the area of Stony Plain Road and 153rd Street.

Patrick Saunders said he was attacked by a man when he went inside the nearby Anarchy Tattoo Parlour just before 11 a.m. to do some demolition work. The man appeared to be agitated and sweating profusely, Saunders said.

When Saunders entered the store, he had an uneasy feeling about the man, he said.

"He looked kind of sketchy, hesitant, like he was high on something and sweating profusely," Saunders said. "So I just kind of remained silent, waited and said, 'Where do I start work?' "

Then Saunders noticed the man had drugs and drug paraphernalia lying around.

"I just thought to myself, 'I'm getting the hell out of here,' " he said. "Then I got jumped. He just literally jumped me with everything he had. Started putting the boots to me, punching me, kicking me."  

Saunders said after he pushed the man off him, he followed Saunders out the door and started chasing him down Stony Plain Road.

While Saunders went to a nearby store to call police, the man went to Dan's Pawnshop and began to tear the place apart, according to witnesses.

When police arrived, they found a man in his 30s threatening people and damaging property, said police spokesman Jeff Wuite.

"He was threatening people … inside the store, as well as breaking windows, breaking items within the store," he said.

Stun gun didn't stop man, officer says

Wuite said police then used a Taser, or conductive energy device (CED), on the man.

"Officers approached him and tried to bring him under control," Wuite said. "He was combative, and they had to deploy a CED. In fact, a CED was employed twice to no effect.

"It was at this time that he ran at our officers, and they brought him down and wrestled with him.… He continued to resist arrest at this time. They were able to eventually get handcuffs on him. It was at that point that he had lost consciousness."

The man was then taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead, Wuite said.

Police have not released the man's name.

Stun guns are used by police to incapacitate people with an electric shock.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) is now investigating.

ASIRT is an independent agency that investigates incidents involving police that result in death or serious injury.