JANE ARMSTRONG
Globe and Mail
October 1, 2008
VANCOUVER — A man has died after Mounties in the Vancouver suburb of Langley used a taser to subdue him after he jumped out of the window of a house.
Police said the man died en route to hospital Tuesday afternoon. Officers used the stun gun after they responded to reports that an armed bank robbery suspect was holed up in a Langley house.
RCMP Corporal Peter Thiessen told CTV news that shortly after police arrived at the house, the man smashed through the front window and landed on the ground. He was naked and bleeding from the chest. Earlier, shouts were heard from the house and police said there were reports that a woman was inside.
Cpl. Thiessen did not release the name of the man nor say if he was the bank robbery suspect.
Police tried to subdue the agitated man, but he tried to run back into the house, Cpl. Thiessen said.
“At that point, believing that he was a possible armed robbery suspect, the fact that the firearm was unaccounted for and the fact that there was a known female still inside … officers used their [taser] in an effort to restrain this individual, which they subsequently did,” the officer said.
The bank robbery occurred just a few blocks away, earlier in the morning.
It’s the second time recently that police in the Vancouver area have used the device to subdue a suspect. Last Monday, Vancouver police used a taser on a 16-year-old mentally ill mother, saying they feared she would harm her baby.
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