Journal article

Publication year: 2022

Pages: 114-117

Journal: Rechtsmedizin

Volume number: 32

Issue number: 2

ISSN: 0937-9819

eISSN: 1434-5196

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00194-022-00569-x

Publisher: Springer

Abstract: 
A 63-year-old man shooting around with a handgun led to a police operation in a residential building. Officers of the Special Operations Command (SEK) deployed a TASER X2 distance electrical impulse device (DEIG). After the pulse was applied and the person was restrained in a prone position, he was observed to have a blue complexion and was not breathing. Resuscitation efforts in the field were primarily successful (day 0). A medicolegal examination of the sedated and ventilated patient performed on day 1 revealed dart-like puncture marks on the chest and upper abdomen. Forensic toxicology testing of a blood sample revealed no evidence of an influence from alcohol or narcotics. In the hospital course, no improvement of the health condition occurred in the presence of hypoxic brain damage. Treatment was limited and the man died on day 18 after the incident. The autopsy performed the following day and the subsequent examinations showed scarred former puncture sites on the chest and abdomen of the very obese deceased (BMI: 48.4 kg/m(2)) and a heart weight of 766 g with signs of pre-existing heart failure. The immediate cause of death was acute bronchopneumonia, which had developed during the inpatient stay in the presence of hypoxic brain damage, bed confinement, and treatment limitation. The use of DEIG was considered contributory to the occurrence of the resuscitative condition. Fault attributable to the deployed officers for the death of the arrestee was not presumed. The death raises the question of whether the use of DEIG, particularly against highly aggressive, intoxicated, mentally ill or persons with previous cardiac injury, poses an increased risk of acute cardiovascular arrest.

Harvard Citation style: Birngruber, C., Ohlwarther, T., Weyrich, A. and Dettmeyer, R. (2022) Death after use of a distance electrical impulse device (TASER X2), Rechtsmedizin, 32(2), pp. 114-117. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00194-022-00569-x

APA Citation style: Birngruber, C., Ohlwarther, T., Weyrich, A., & Dettmeyer, R. (2022). Death after use of a distance electrical impulse device (TASER X2). Rechtsmedizin. 32(2), 114-117. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00194-022-00569-x