Blind Man Tasered, Police Mistake Cane For Gun

UK police tasered a blind man with 50,000 volts for failing to drop his walking stick at a railway station in Manchester, northwest England.

Greater Manchester Police responded to a call on Thursday night that a middle-aged man was carrying a gun waiting on a platform at Levenshulme railway station.

The innocent man was later offered a cola by the police.

RT.com reports:

When the blind man failed to respond to demands that he lower his “weapon,” officers shot him with a high powered stun gun. Shortly after hitting him with the taser police realised that the “firearm” was in fact the blind man’s walking stick and, far from posing a threat, he had merely been waiting for a train.

Tasawar Dar, who runs a convenience store beside the station, told the Manchester Evening News that he saw heavily armed police at the scene. and another eyewitness said that the officers pointed their weapons at the blind man.

Police taser blind man in Manchester after mistaking white stick for a gun. Shopkeeper Tasawar Dar witnessed the aftermath. pic.twitter.com/Vvgk9IuKiK

— North West Tonight (@BBCNWT) February 24, 2017

“I heard the police and they shouted ‘lie down on the ground’ and there was the bark of a dog as well,” Dar said.

The Telegraph is reporting that the man collapsed on the platform before being detained by officers. “Officers later discovered the man was in possession of a folding cane and he was subsequently released,” a police spokesperson said.

Dar added that the police bought the man a can of Coca-Cola after shocking him with 50,000 volts. The incident will be investigated by Greater Manchester Police’s Professional Standards Branch.

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