Florida Cop Shoots 62-Year-Old Black Woman in the Back With a Stun Gun [Video]
A Florida police officer has been placed on paid administrative leave after shooting a 62-year-old woman in her back using a stun gun during an arrest in Tallahassee.
Video footage of the incident, which was recorded by a witness on Tuesday afternoon, shows the African American woman resisting arrest. She then turned around and appears to walk away when the officer pulls out a stun gun and shoots her in the back, causing her to fall face down onto the pavement.
The person who recorded the video can also be heard saying that the cop "tased a lady for nothing."
After obtaining the video, the Tallahassee police department launched an internal affairs investigation and placed Officer Terry Mahan on administrative leave pending the investigation.
"Based on the video, I have enough concerns to call for an internal investigation," said Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo during a news conference early Wednesday morning. "We will conduct a thorough investigation into this incident. We want to be transparent with the community by sharing what we can at this point, including the video," he continued, reports the Associated Press.
DeLeo added that, "The investigation will determine if the officer's actions were legal and if those actions were consistent with the expectations I have set for our officers in terms of how we respect and treat our citizens," reports the Christian Science Monitor.
According to police, the officers were responding to complaints about drug trafficking in the area. After they began making arrests, the woman, identified as Viola Young, approached one of the police cars to inquire about why two women and a man were being taken into custody.
In his police report, Mahan said that after he told people to back away from the police scene, Young "responded by yelling, 'I just want to know what is going on.'" Mahan said she refused to leave and he told her she was under arrests. He said she yanked away from him when he attempted to grab her arm.
After being tased, she was cleared by paramedics and taken to the Leon County Jail.
Young was charged with resisting arrest and obstructing an officer without the use of violence.
Watch video footage of the incident, which occurs around the 2:30 mark.
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