At least 15 US officers mistook guns for Tasers. Three were convicted
14 Apr, 2021 11:38 PM
8 minutes to read
Robert Bates was convicted of manslaughter after he said he mistakenly shot a man with a gun instead of a Taser in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2015. Photo / AP
Robert Bates was convicted of manslaughter after he said he mistakenly shot a man with a gun instead of a Taser in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2015. Photo / AP
New York Times
By: Alan Feuer and Mihir Zaveri
Prosecuting police in cases of so-called weapon confusion has happened before, but the legal landscape is complex.
It happened in a flash.
At least 15 officers in the US have mistaken guns for Tasers Three were convicted orlandosentinel.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from orlandosentinel.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Cases of officers mistaking their service pistol for a Taser have been rare
Updated Apr 13, 2021;
Posted Apr 13, 2021
Daunte Wright s mother, Katie, eulogizes her son at his vigil, Monday, April 12, 2021, as the community responded to the police killing of 20-year-old Wright, with hundreds joining his family at the location on 63 Ave. N. in Brooklyn Center, Minn., where he was killed. (Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via AP)AP
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The Brooklyn Center police on Monday said the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright came by way of a rare mistake: An officer drew a service pistol when she thought she was holding a Taser.
It happened in a flash.
A deputy drew what he thought was his stun gun on a Black man who was fleeing, announcing his choice of weapon with a shout of “Taser!” But it was a pistol he pulled out, not a stun gun, and the man died. “Oh, I shot him,” the deputy says on video. “I’m sorry.”
Though the facts sound eerily familiar, that was six years ago in Tulsa, Okla., in a case that closely echoed what occurred this weekend in Brooklyn Center, Minn. There was the same announcement, the same tragic result, the same shocked response.
At least 15 officers mistook guns for Tasers Three were convicted capitalgazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from capitalgazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.