New York man dies after police subdue him with stun gun

NEW YORK – A 49-year-old emotionally disturbed man brandishing a glass bottle died after he was subdued by an officer with a stun gun, New York police said.

The confrontation happened at a home in the Bronx at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday while officers were responding to a neighbour’s call saying the man was menacing her and acting violently.

When three police officers confronted the man, police said he threatened them with the bottle. A sergeant then discharged his stun gun. The man kept struggling with the officers and the sergeant used his stun gun a second time, police said.

While in custody, police said the man went into cardiac arrest and CPR was administered. He was then taken to a hospital, where he died.

The man’s name has not yet been released.

“The incident is being investigated by the Force Investigation Division pending determination of the cause of death,” a police statement said.

Last month, a police sergeant was criticized for not using his stun gun when he fatally shot a 66-year-old emotionally disturbed Bronx woman wielding scissors and a baseball bat.

Mayor Bill de Blasio called Deborah Danner’s death “tragic” and “unacceptable” while New York police Commissioner James O’Neill said his department “failed” by not using means other than deadly force.

The head of the police union representing sergeants, Ed Mullins, said the shooting was self-defence and bemoaned what he characterized as a politically motivated rush to judgment.