VANCOUVER, British Columbia, (Reuters) – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police acted prematurely and inappropriately in their use of electronic stun guns in an incident at Vancouver airport that led to death of a Polish immigrant, a government commission reported yesterday.
Robert Dziekanski died in October 2007 shortly after he was repeatedly shocked with a Taser stun gun and subdued by RCMP officers.
A bystander’s video of Dziekanski screaming on the floor as he died was broadcast around the world, drawing public outrage and contradicting initial police statements that they shot him after having to wrestle him to the ground.
The four Mounties who confronted Dziekanski at the airport had no plan when they arrived on the scene, and did not warn him before they fired, said Paul Kennedy, chairman of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP.
“Use of the (stun gun) against Mr. Dziekanski was premature and inappropriate,” Kennedy said, dismissing police claims that Dziekanski posed a serious threat.
He sharply criticized the Mounties for wanting to delay the release of the commission’s report, and for failing to adopt earlier recommendations on the use of Taser stun guns that were issued following the 2007 incident.
