Yahoo Movies Man dead after altercation with police, hospital staff
A man is dead after a stun gun and sedative were used to bring him under control during a physical altercation with police and staff at an Edmonton hospital on Wednesday, police said.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), the province's police watchdog, has been directed to investigate.
The incident began on Wednesday shortly after noon when Edmonton police conducted a mental health assessment on a 43-year-old man at a residential address in Parkdale, near 87th Street and 112th Avenue.
The man's psychiatrist had requested the assessment after an incident the previous day, Edmonton Police Service said in a news release Friday. Police were told the man had tried to breach a family member's door earlier in the week.
The man was cooperative with officers and was transported to hospital on a Form 10 arrest under the Alberta Mental Health Act, police said.
At the hospital, he was placed in a secure holding room in the emergency ward, police said. At around 2:15 p.m., hospital staff asked for police help to move the man to the mental health ward.
As the man was being moved, a physical altercation broke out between the man, police, security guards and hospital staff, the release said. Police say the man was about six-feet-four inches tall and weighed 250 pounds.
"A physical struggle ensued that included the use of a CEW [conducted electrical weapon] in an attempt to bring the male under control," the police news release said. A police spokesperson confirmed to CBC News an EPS officer fired the stun gun.
Medical staff then administered a sedative to the man, according to police.
Police said, shortly thereafter the man went into medical distress and was not breathing. He was immediately taken to the hospital's trauma room where staff performed CPR.
"Despite the life-saving attempts the male was later pronounced deceased," police said.
An officer was treated by hospital staff for minor injuries, including bite marks and scratches to his face sustained during the altercation.
With ASIRT directed to investigate, EPS said it would not provide further comment.
