Witness says police wrong on Taser story
CanWest News Service
Published: Tuesday, October 16, 2007
An woman who saw police use a Taser on a middle-aged man at Vancouver International Airport questions the RCMP’s version of what happened.
The RCMP were “too harsh” in their treatment of the unruly man, who died early Sunday after being shot by a stun gun minutes earlier by police in the airport’s secured international arrivals area, a woman who saw the incident said in a TV interview yesterday.
She also said that the RCMP’s description of the event differs from what she saw. And she believes he was shot with a Taser four times, not twice, as police have said.
“I saw two of them [police officers]; they Tasered him at the same time,” Sima Ashrafina told CTV news. “Now [the police spokesman] is trying to justify that the way we train our officers, they’re aiming one at a time. That is not true. That’s not what happened.”
Ashrafina, who was at the airport to pick up her husband, captured some of the incident on her cellphone camera.
“It was too harsh, that’s my personal opinion,” said the North Vancouver woman.
She said five police officers arrived. The RCMP have said three showed up.
“RCMP came like 1:35 a.m., and he died 1:39 a.m., she said. Ashrafina was upset that no attempt was made to get an interpreter, or to calm the man down.
The man spoke what is believed to be an eastern European language, said police. There were papers and a passport on the man’s possession, but police are refusing to say what country he is from or his name.
Sixteen people have died in Canada in the past four years after being Tasered by police.
Confrontation 
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