Police Taser 6-year-old boy at Miami elementary school

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r

Fri, 12 Nov 2004 00:25:25 -0500

Subject:AP Wire | 11/11/2004 | Police Taser 6-year-old boy at Miami elemen

 

 

AP Wire | 11/11/2004 | Police Taser 6-year-old boy at Miami elementary

school

Address:http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/10158641.htm

 

( Six Years Old ! -- That's First Grade Folks ! -- They are going to

keep pushing showing us that we do not need to be any threat to them,

For them to use a device that can be deadly on us. Remember We

outnumber them 1,000 to one )

 

Associated Press

 

MIAMI - A 6-year-old boy was subdued with a Taser while wielding a piece

of glass and threatening to hurt himself in the principal's office,

officials said Thursday.

 

The boy, who was not identified, was shocked by police with 50,000 volts

of electric current on Oct. 20 at Kelsey Pharr Elementary School.

 

Principal Maria Mason called 911 after the child broke a picture frame

in her office and waved the piece of glass, holding a security guard

back.

 

When " two Miami-Dade County police officers and a school officer " (not

enough to control a first grader ? ) arrived, the boy had already cut

himself under his eye and on his hand.

 

The officers talked to the boy without success. When he cut his own leg,

one officer shocked him with a Taser, then another grabbed him to

prevent him from falling, police said.

 

He was treated by Miami-Dade Fire-Rescue and taken to Jackson Memorial

Hospital, where he was committed for psychiatric evaluation.

 

( I think the police should have been the one's commited for psychiatric

evaluation)

 

" By using the Taser, we were able to stop the situation, stop him from

hurting himself, " police spokesman Juan DelCastillo told The Miami

Herald. " Sure he could have been tackled and maybe injured, maybe his

arm broken or maybe that glass could have cut him in a critical area. "

 

Retired Juvenile Judge Frank Orlando called the incident " ridiculous. "

 

" It just sounds excessive to me to Taser gun a 6-year-old when everyone

else around there were adults, " said Orlando, who now runs a law clinic

on youth law at Nova Southeastern University. " They couldn't subdue a

6-year-old? Must have been a pretty big kid. "

Police wouldn't say how big the child was. The case was under review.

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Information from: The Miami Herald, http://www.herald.com