April 2003
Terry Hanna died
of cardiac arrest after police arrested him in Burnaby, British Columbia, using a Taser. Police said he was high on cocaine
and wielding a hammer and knife when the stun gun was used.
Mr. Hanna was the first victim of twenty-six Taser-related deaths in Canada. It is the
position of APBnow that
immediately after this incident, the Taser gun should have been subject to a complete ban for
use by police officers in Canada.
July 22, 2003
Clayton Willey,
33, was jolted with a Taser at a strip mall in Prince George, British Columbia, and died shortly after. Willey was restrained,
cuffed, then shot with a stun gun at least twice. Officers were struggling to get him into an ambulance when they used
the Taser. An autopy afterwards ruled that Willey had a potential lethal amount of cocaine in his system when he died. An
RCMP probe into Willey's death cleared all officers of wrongdoing.
Sept.28, 2003
Clark Edward Whitehouse, 34, was shocked with aTaser by Whitehorse RCMP after being stopped for a traffic violation, and died the same
day, according to police. Whitehouse tried to evade police but was captured after a brief vehicle pursuit and footchase. Police
said he was combative and a stun gun was used to subdue him. After the arrest, Whitehouse appeared to be in medical distress
and emergency medical workers were called to the scene, while an officer performed CPR. EMS transferred Whitehouse to Whitehorse
General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. On April 21, 2005, a coroner's inquest concluded that Whitehouse died accidentally, caused
by acute cocaine intoxication.
March 19, 2004
Ronald Perry was
arrested by Edmonton police for strange and violent behaviour, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Alberta.
While trying to restrain him, he was jolted with a taser by officers and taken to hospital. There, he suffered cardiac arrest
and died.
May 1, 2004
Roman Andreichikov died
after Vancouver police shot him with a Taser, Canadian Press reported. Andreichikov was high on cocaine and had twice tried
to jump off his fourth floor balcony when his friend called 911. Officers responded to the scene and jolted Andreichikov with
aTaser to subdue him. After three officers held him down and he was handcuffed, they realized Andreichikov wasn't breathing.
A coroner's inquest into the incident concluded that the death was accidental and caused by cocaine, not police.
May 14, 2004
Peter Lamonday, a 33 year old landscaper from london, Ontario, died shortly after police shocked him with a Taser, Canadian
Press reported. In August 2004, the seven police officers involved were cleared of any wrongdoing by Ontario's Special Investigations
Unit. And in May 2005, a five person jury at a coroner's inquest into the death concluded that Lamonday died from cocaine-induced
delirium.
June 23, 2004
Robert Bagnell
44, died at a Vancouver hotel after police used a Taser to subdue him. A report by Victoria police showed Bagnell died due
to cocaine-induced psychosis. However, Bagnell's family rejected this explanation and launched a civil suit against the Vancouver
police department. The lawsuit is still pending, according to their lawyer, Cameron Ward. A five-person jury at a coroner's
inquest into Bagnell's death concluded that he died due to "restraint-associated cardiac arrest" due to acute cocaine
intoxication and psychosis, the Vancouver Sun reported.
July 17, 2004
Jerry Knight, a 29 year old from Brampton, Ontario, died after police shot him with a Taser. The former semi-pro boxer
was breaking things in a Mississauga hotel room when officers arrived at the scene, police said.
August 8, 2004
Samuel Truscott, 43, died
in Kingston Ontario, just hours after police shocked him with a stun gun. Kingston police officers were called to a home
where a man, who had apparently overdosed on drugs, barricaded himself in a bedroom and was threatening to hurt himself, Canadian
Press reported. Pepper spray was used, and when that didn't work, the taser was deployed, police said. Ontario's Special Investigations
Unit said Truscott died solely because of an overdose and cleared the officers involved.
May 5,2005
Kevin Geldart was jolted with a stun gun at a downtown bar in Moncton, New Brunswick, after he wandered away from the psychiatric
unit of a nearby hospital. Geldart, who had bipolar disorder, had been combative and violent, police said. He was shocked
as many as three times and it took four officers to wrestle him down, tie his feet, and handcuff him. Police realized he was
no longer breathing afterwards. At the inquest into Geldart's death, the jury ruled that the death was accidental, caused
by "excited delirium", a rare condition where a person becomes agitated, violent and shows insensitivity to pain.
June 30, 2005
Gurmit Singh Sundhu, a 41-year-old Surrey, British Columbia man, died after RCMP shocked him with a Taser several times during
an incident at his home. The father of four stopped breathing as officers took him into custody. Police and paramedics tried
to revive him but he was pronounced dead at Surrey Memorial Hospital.
July 1, 2005
James Foldi, 39, died
after Niagra Police used a Taser during his arrest west of St. Catherines, Ontario, Canadian Press reported. Police responded
to a neighborhood in Beamsville, after reports of several break-ins in the area. In a report after the incident, the Special
Investigations Unit cleared the officers of any blame in foldi's death, the Hamilton Spectator reported.
July 15, 2005
Paul Saulnier,
42, died in Digby, Nova Scotia outside the RCMP detachment after officers used a stun gun to immobilize him. Police said they
used the Taser after pepper spray and a baton didn't work. Saulnier was initially brought into police custody after his wife,
Helen, filed a harassment complaint. An investigation by Halifax Regional Police found the three officers involved were
justified in using force.
Dec. 24, 2005
Alesandro Fiacco,
33, was arrested after wandering erratically into traffic in Edmonton, police said. At one point, an officer used
a Taser to subdue him. Fiacco was taken by ambulance to hospital for examination, but was pronounced dead on arrival.
A medical examiner later determined the cause of death to be acute cocaine toxicity.
August 10, 2006
Jason Doan was shocked with a Taser three
times by Red Deer, Alberta RCMP after officers responded to reports of a man seen smashing car windows. Police said the stun
gun was used after an officer was hit with the wooden handle of a pitchfork. After the confrontation, the 28 year old man
remained in a Red Deer hospital, where he died on August 30, 2006.
September 18, 2007
Police were called to a downtown Quebec City convenience store by the owner after Claudio Castagnetta walked in barefoot, disoriented
and confused, according to the Globe and Mail. After a brief altercation, officers shocked Castagnetta with a stun gun to
subdue him. He was handcuffed, arrested and taken to the Quebec City police station and charged with disorderly conduct and
resisting arrest.
While in his cell, Castagnetta acted erratically; singing, making bizarre sounds, and vomiting,
according to eyewitnesses. Officers allegedly ignored Castagnetta's behavior. After the 32-year-old's arrangement hearing
on Sept. 19, Castagnetta allegedly began banging his head against the wall. He had a helmet placed on his head while he was
transported to a detention centre on the edge of Quebec City. After he arrived, an ambulance took Castagnetta to hospital
where he was pronounced dead the next day.
October 14, 2007
Quilem Registre, 38, was shocked with a Taser
after being stopped by police for a traffic violation in Montreal. Police say Registre was intoxicated and became aggressive
when questioned, forcing officers to use a stun gun. Registre was sent to a Montreal area hospital in critical condition,
and died three days later on October 17.
October 14, 2007
Robert Dziekanski, 40, died shortly after
being shocked with a Taser by RCMP officers at Vancouver international Airport. Police officers were called after Dziekanski
allegedly began pounding on windows and throwing chairs and computer equipment in the customs area. RCMP speculated the cause
was a rare condition called excited delirium, but the coroner's office has not yet determined the cause of death. Excited
delirium is described as an agitated state, when a person experiences an irregular heartbeat and suddenly dies. It can happen
to psychiatric patients and people using drugs such as cocaine.
October 29, 2008
Trevor Grimolfson died after Edmonton police
officers used a Taser on him "twice with no effect," said police spokesman Jeff Wuite. Police responded to reports of a man
tearing apart a pawn shop in the area of Stony Plain Road and 153rd Street. Officers approached Grimolfson, Wuite said, and
when he became combative, they used a stun gun on him twice. The Taser didn't stop the man, officers said. Grimolfson then
charged at police, and they wrestled him to the ground and handcuffed him. Grimolfson lost consciousness and police took him
to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
November 19, 2007
Robert Knipstrom, 36, died five days after
his arrest at a Chiliwack, British Columbia equipment rental store. Officers said Knipstrom was acting agitated and erratic
when he arrived at the establishment and police were called. RCMP officers struggled with Knipstrom and used pepper spray,
a collapsible metal baton and a taser to subdue him, police said. Knipstrom later died, on November 24, 2007, at
Surrey Memorial Hospital.
November 21, 2007
Howard Hyde, who was jolted
with a Taser by Halifax Regional Police, died 30 hours later in a Dartmouth, Nova Scotia jail. The 45 year-old was being booked
on an assault charge when he jumped over the counter and tried
to flee, police said. Hyde and the officers struggled and the Taser was used to subdue him, according to police. Police
did not release Hyde's name, but his identity was confirmed by his sister, Joanna. She added that Hyde had psychiatric
problems. Both the RCMP and the province's chief medical examiner were looking into the incident.
June 23, 2008
Jeffrey Marreel, 36 died
in hospital two hours after being shocked with a Taser gun when Ontario Provincial Police responded to a disturbance in the
town of Norfolk, Ontario, about 130 km southwest of Toronto. Police say Marreel was taken to the Norfolk County provincial
police station after being hit with the stun gun, where he collapsed. He died about two hours after the initial incident.
July 22, 2008
A 17- year- old boy died after Winnipeg police officers fired a stun gun at him. The teen was a suspect
in a robbery, police said, and was armed with a knife. Police said he refused to put down a knife when ordered.
September 18, 2008
Peel Regional police arrested Sean Reilly,
a 42-year-old carpenter, on the afternoon of September 17, at his home in Brampton, Ontario, and charged him with assault
with a weapon. Police took him into custody without incident. At the police station, according to an SIU statement, police
say Reilly got into a "struggle" with four officers in or near a holding cell, and they shot him with a Taser. Reilly went
into medical distress and died in hospital 12 hours later, on September 18.
September 30, 2008
An unidentified Langley, British Columbia man died September 30 after he jumped naked through
a second-story window of his home and police shot him with a Taser. The 49-year-old man was a suspect in an armed bank robbery
committed minutes earlier. The RCMP said the man, who was bleeding and had severe chest wounds, did not respond to verbal
commands and was trying to get back into the house.
November 1, 2008
Gordon Walker Bowe, died in hospital after bieng shocked with a Taser. Police had been called to investigate a break
and enter in southeast Calgary. They found Bowe, in an unoccupied basement. There was a struggle and he was arrested.
At the time of this writing, it was still under investigation with the Alberta Serious Crimes Unit.
May 6, 2009
Grant William Prentice, age
40. Mr. Prentice was injured and bleeding, and had fallen flat
on his face. He was trying to get into a home and alert help, crying out "I need help". Police were called, and
they tried handcuffing him. He resisted and had bitten an officer. A total of five officers were onhand during the confrontation.
A Taser was deployed and he died shortly after in hospital.
