Shortly after an Atlanta woman received a TASER gun as a gift she was able to put it to good use. She was driving with her mother to a Walmart store in Lithonia when she saw a DeKalb County police officer struggling with a suspect.
The woman instructed her mother to pull over so that they could help. She reached into her diaper bag to retrieve the TASER gun. As onlookers gathered around the altercation, the woman asked the police officer if he wanted her to use her brandished TASER gun.
When the police officer confirmed that he would like assistance the woman shot the TASER gun towards the suspect’s arms and legs. The police officer had been disabled by the suspect when the suspect rubbed pepper spray into the police officer’s face and eyes and took away the police officer’s radio.
The woman used the TASER gun to disable the suspect long enough for the police officer to recover from the attacks and be in a position to fight back. Soon afterwards a security guard came to help subdue the man.
The woman doesn’t think of herself as a hero, simply as a bystander doing the right thing. She said of the police officer, “He’s brave. He did his best to keep his attacker from getting his gun. He handled the situation very well. I was just glad I could help him.”
The woman’s quick thinking and timely intervention prevented further injury and/or death in a high stakes police situation. The TASER gun was, indeed, a timely present!
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A man, age 25, was arrested with the help of a stun gun in a California mall’s parking lot after he had been brutalizing his fiancée, a 27 year old woman, in a minivan for several days.
The couple had agreed to not have sex until after they were married and a disagreement on that subject was the catalyst for the man attacking and raping the woman. They had returned from a trip to Palm Desert in the man’s van when they argued and the man struck her and raped her.
Afterwards the man kept her in the minivan for two days, refusing to release her. He drove around the area and talked to her. Occasionally he bound her legs with a shirt.
In the mall parking lot the van was noticed by a sheriff’s sergeant, who knocked on the window to question the man. Fearful that he would go to jail for the rape and kidnapping incidents, he impulsively began repeatedly stabbing her in the back, head, and neck.
After repeated efforts had been made to get the man to exit his vehicle, the sheriff’s sergeant kicked in the window. The sergeant then subdued the man with a stun gun. Unfortunately he was unable to save the woman’s life.
After a two-day preliminary hearing this week, the man was denied bail and will be arraigned at the end of the month on charges of first degree murder with special allegations of murder committed during a kidnapping and a rape. The man will be sentenced to life in prison without parole if convicted on all charges and at least one of the special considerations.
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In Lincoln County, Oklahoma, a woman’s dog woke her early on Friday morning by barking and sounding the alarm regarding a drunken individual attempting to gain entrance to the home.
The woman called 911 but also retrieved her 16 gauge shotgun for self defense. 911 operator tapes show that the prowler tried to break in several times in spite of the homeowner’s clear warnings to stay out.
Finally, the prowler threw a chair through a window to get access to the home. At this point the homeowner shot the individual with her 16-gauge shotgun. She only fired one shot in self defense. The potential intruder was fatally injured but the homeowner remained completely uninjured.
The individual was identified and his car was discovered wrecked near the site of the attempted home invasion. Inside the wrecked car was the prowler’s sister who was so intoxicated that she was transported to a local hospital to receive medical attention.
I’m sure the homeowner was relieved to have been able to defend herself against a drunken and willful man who meant to do her harm. Instead of being at the mercy of the substances controlling his actions/mind/body she laid down the law and kept herself safe in the process.
If she had not purchased and practiced with a shotgun she might have lacked the tools necessary to keep a routine home invasion from becoming a heinous crime. Already destroying parts of the house, this perpetrator was unable to destroy parts of the homeowner herself because of a self-defense weapon
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A dance held at the Carl A. Fields Center on Princeton University campus was disrupted by a large fight involving 10 to 20 people. The dance was sponsored by a student organization called the Caribbean Connection.
At around 1:20 am the campus police (Public Safety Officers) received multiple calls from dance attendees regarding an escalating fight at the party. One Public Safety Officer had already been assigned to the event, due to its size and nature, and three additional Public Safety Officers were on hand due to an earlier incident at the same event.
The event’s attendance was around 200 people so it is not surprising that the Public Safety Officers found it difficult to wade through the crowd and attempt to control the situation by separating the group that was actually fighting.
The situation continued to escalate and the Public Safety Officers feared for their own safety and the safety of the other attendees of the dance. The crowd dispersed without further violence, though, after a few passes of pepper spray over the crowd. Borough Police Officers, who arrived on the scene later, sprayed the crowd twice before the fighting ceased entirely.
Police and Public Safety Officers dispersed the crowd but did not issue any complaints or arrest warrants. The investigation into the incident is ongoing. No one has yet come forward, however, to report being assaulted or injured at the event.
The Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students at Princeton noted that this was a rare but serious incident and “an aberration” from the norm of student organization sponsored events.
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Wednesday night’s meeting of the Rochester New York Police Commission heard testimony regarding the policy of issuing TASER weapons to police officers. In dispute was whether or not it would be feasible to purchase the weapons for the police department. The number of police officers willing to undergo the requisite training was also in dispute.
The Rochester Policeman’s Association, a local union of police officers, was represented by their president who stated that 31 out of 32 officers polled at the last union meeting were unwilling to submit to the requirements for carrying a TASER on duty. All officers who are issued a TASER must feel the effects of the weapon themselves by being “tased.”
Another police captain disputed that by sharing the results of departmental interviews conducted over the past month. It was found that 24 uniformed police officers, including 18 “regular” police officers and members of the Command staff, are now willing to experience the force of a TASER in order to carry one.
The discrepancy in opinion could be related to a change in the TASER policy that noted that police officers who undergo tasing will experience the shot in the lower part of the upper body.
The commission felt comfortable that there were enough police officers willing to undergo the requisite training that they could justify the purchase. 50 TASERs will be purchased using grant money and once the paperwork is finalized the TASERs could be available for use in approximately a month and a half.
No officer will be forced to submit to experiencing the TASER but if they refuse they will not be issued the weapon.
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A man was stabbed to death outside of his Oakland, California apartment by a former partner, who resides in Alameda. The men had not lived together for at least two years and rarely saw each other or interacted.
The accused became angry and broke into the other man’s apartment in the Diamond District at about 11:45 a.m. The source of the conflict is unknown. Once inside the apartment the accused attacked his former partner with a knife, leading to a raucous fight that tumbled out into the street outside.
People witnessing the fight flagged down a passing police officer in the hopes of breaking up the fight. The stabbing occurred just as the police officer arrived. He was, unfortunately, unable to stop the stabbing.
The police officer was eventually able to subdue the attacker, a 33 year old man, but the man who was stabbed succumbed to his injuries.
The attacker had many cuts on his hands but still lost control when the paramedics tried to treat his wounds. He became so unruly that the police officer used a stun gun to subdue him. Both men were then taken to a local hospital. The attacker was arrested on suspicion of murder.
This stabbing is the hundred and second homicide reported in Oakland this year. In comparison, at this point last year Oakland had reported 117 stabbing episodes.
Considering the agitated state of the attacker, it is lucky that the police officer had a stun gun to subdue him before he was able to injure anyone else.
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The San Bernadino County District Attorney’s office ruled, after a four-and-a-half month investigation, that a July shooting in California was conducted in self-defense and in the defense of others. The office stated in their ruling that there was no criminal liability for the police officer involved. The shooting was non-fatal.
On July 23rd the San Bernadino County Sheriff’s office responded to a call by sending a police officer to investigate a violent man in the Golden Coach Mobile Home Park in Apple Valley, California.
When the police officer confronted the suspect standing near a mobile home, he, the suspect, was holding three large knives. The suspect threw one of the knives at the police officer, narrowly missing him. The knife became lodged in the corner of the mobile home.
When the suspect raised a second knife to throw, the police officer shot the suspect in the abdomen, immobilizing him and neutralizing the threat of further violence. The suspect survived the shooting.
The investigation concluded that the shooting was in self-defense and therefore justified. Several witnesses corroborated the police officer’s story, so no charges were filed.
It is gratifying to know that police officers can defend themselves without facing excessive prosecution. These men and women put themselves in harm’s way on a daily basis and need to know that they can make tough calls to protect their lives and the lives of other citizens.
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Late Wednesday night, a young man, age 29, was stopped at a sobriety checkpoint in York County, Virginia. The check point was run by Virginia state police and the York County DUI Task Force to restrain individuals driving under the influence (DUI).
The man provided a blood sample on the scene (in a waiting ambulance) but shortly thereafter fled into the woods near the checkpoint. Police took up the chase but when they caught the man he continued to resist them vigorously.
At that point police used a stun gun to subdue him. Initially he continued to fight despite the use of the stun gun but was eventually arrested.
After subduing the man it was discovered that he had provided false identification and forged another person’s name on the documents relating to the blood sample he gave. He was also driving with a suspended license and was wanted on a number of outstanding warrants.
The York County Sheriff’s Office noted that the man was booked after the arrest at Central Booking and then sent to the York County Prison with no bail set.
This routine traffic stop that turned violent is an example of why stun guns are useful tools for the police. The suspect was so agitated that it would have been difficult to get the situation under control using physical force alone, and introducing a lethal weapon to the mix could have agitated him further and/or injured either party.
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Just after 3 a.m. on Thursday a 26-year-old man from the East St. Louis metropolitan area was shot in an attempted robbery. The store clerk shot the man in self defense when he and three others forced themselves into the locked store.
The Quality Market, a 24 hour market located on 10th Street and Bond Avenue, closes and locks the interior of the store at 11 pm. Business is conducted at a walk-up window during the late night hours.
The four men forced their way through the locked door, which had been weakened by a previous break-in a few weeks prior, and rushed the 21 year old clerk, who had a gun for self defense.
An Illinois State Police Lieutenant said, “The robbers wrestled with the clerk over the gun, the gun discharged during the struggle and struck one of the bandits in the chest.”
The three remaining men left, taking the wounded robber with them. The wounded robber died shortly thereafter in Kenneth Hall Hospital.
Surveillance video confirms the store clerk’s version of the events.
Two men who brought the wounded robber to the hospital were arrested but it is unknown what their connection to the robbery is or if they are, in fact, two of the men from the robbery attempt.
While the shooting was clearly in self-defense, investigators are attempting to determine whether the clerk was allowed to have a gun with him at the store. Also in question is whether or not the three accomplices could be charged in connection to the wounded robber’s death.
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Red Clay Restaurant in Roanoke, Virginia, played host on Monday night to a New Boyz concert that benefited the Children’s Miracle Network. The event attracted hundreds of fans and the venue was quickly packed. More than 250 people were allowed in, while dozens of would-be concert goers were disappointed when they were cut off at the door. Lines formed quickly and overwhelmed the venue’s ability to accommodate all those whishing to attend.
Employees had set the limit of attendees lower than usual for this evening in order to keep the event from becoming overly crowded or uncontrollable. Ironically, the chaos prevented inside the restaurant quickly spread to the streets outside of the restaurant instead.
As trouble was anticipated two dozen police officers were on hand with weapons and video cameras to document the behavior of concert goers and police alike. Officers lined the streets (the restaurant is located on Campbell Avenue) and moved in when the crowd became unruly. As crowd control was the intended goal, pepper spray was opted for over other methods of containment.
Some fans deny any unruly behavior and/or fighting and assert that they were simply standing in line waiting to eventually get into the concert when pepper spray was indiscriminately used. The video taping will either prove or disprove this assertion.
The Roanoke Police Department state that only one person was sprayed by pepper spray and arrested for disorderly conduct. At about 9 pm the crowd dispersed without any further altercation.
Although there is some dispute over the number of people affected by the pepper spray, its use evidently broke up a chaotic crowd that could have easily turned violent. Police documentation of the event should clear up any lingering questions, though the lack of multiple arrests seems to corroborate the Roanoke Police Department’s version of the events.
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