24001

Man dies after being tasered by police

12/07/2015

At 11:30 pm on Dec 7, 2015, EPS responded to a 911 call at an Edmonton residence, 120 Ave & 58 St. In the home, they observed a 49-year old man who was agitated and armed with a knife; the man's teenage son was there and had been heard calling for help during the confrontation (ASIRT 2015, 2017). The man's behavior was perceived as erratic and threatening (ASIRT reports), three officers discharged their conducted energy weapons, or Tasers, and the man was restrained and disarmed, additional units were called in by the police, recognizing the urgency of the situation.

"Two minutes and 55 seconds later" he went into medical distress, officers performed first aid until EMS arrived (Edmonton Journal, 2017). The man was pronounced dead at the hospital. ASIRT opened an investigation in 2015. In 2017, they released their findings, which indicated that although the use of Tasers contributed to the cause of death, ASIRT concluded that the officers were acting appropriately given the circumstances. The chief medical examiner found the man died of “excited delirium syndrome” related to methamphetamine toxicity, ASIRT said. The struggle with police was considered “a significant contributory condition” in the death" (Edmonton Journal, 2017).

**Archive note: the term 'excited delirium syndrome' has no clinical validation and is disproportionately used to describe men of colour who die in interactions with police. Several medical associations, including the American Psychological Association, have called for its discontinuation, see https://www.psychiatry.org/getattachment/7769e617-ee6a-4a89-829f-4fc71d831ce0/Position-Use-of-Term-Excited-Delirium.pdf . However, EPS continues to frequently use this term, usually to describe people who die after being tasered.**

Non-eyewitness, based on documentation

Edmonton

Montrose

Taser; Fatal

CEW; Taser

Arrest

Fatal violence

Cis Man

Edmonton Police Service

6 officers on scene, 3 deployed their CEWs

ASIRT Dec 8, 2015 report "ASIRT investigates EPS incident":
https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/7a8e30f8-cad1-446d-9860-744fbf814aeb/resource/9c280adf-77e0-46d4-a2b1-997fdd209950/download/asirt-asirt-investigates-eps-incident.pdf;
ASIRT Aug 28, 2017 report "ASIRT concludes EPS use of force incident": https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/3f0eb8ba-bd0b-49a9-a5d1-9d52a6ff8b86/resource/37e4fc84-96b2-47d8-989b-cceb7239bf9c/download/asirt-asirt-concludes-eps-use-of-force-incident.pdf

The 3 EPS officers' actions were deemed appropriate for the situation and cleared by an ASIRT investigation.

Research team

ASIRT investigates in-custody death in northeast Edmonton

From published source

Unlimited use

March 13, 2023

October 1, 2025