Sometimes Even a Stun Gun isn’t Enough

In an unfortunate incident that played out in Shreveport, Louisiana, police were forced to shoot a man who didn’t respond to both requests and stun gun applications.

Police were called, for the fourth time in a month, to a residence on a domestic violence incident. The suspect had history of mental illness and mildly diminished mental capacity, according to his girlfriend’s reports. For several days prior to the incident, the girlfriend had asked the suspect to voluntarily commit himself to the mental health ward of LSU hospital, but he had declined to comply.

Everything came to a head on Friday morning, March 5, 2010, when the girlfriend called police fearing that the previously violent man would, once again, strike her. Before police arrived, he did attack her and then jumped out of the back window and escaped.

Upon returning to the house Saturday morning, the girlfriend found that the door had been kicked open and called police to investigate the property. The suspect was found outside, hiding, but some dogs in the yard alerted police to his presence. When approached, the suspect ran into the house concealing what was later found to be a screwdriver behind his back.

When asked to get on the ground, the suspect refused and lunged at officers. They responded with stun gun shocks. When the suspect continued to approach, officers finally drew their guns and shot the man several times.

No Weapon is 100% Guaranteed
Even such weapons as the Tazer x26, most often used by law enforcement, are not infallible. There are situations, especially with a mentally ill individual, when such non-lethal options simply don’t work well, or well enough.

No one was pleased with the outcome of this incident, but the officers’ actions, when faced with a clearly violent and aggressive suspect are to be commended. Had the suspect been more responsive to the stun gun and more aware of his situation, perhaps his death could have been avoided.