Man dies after being Tasered by Stamford police

STAMFORD -- A 47-year-old city man went into "medical distress" and died Wednesday morning after a Stamford police officer shocked him with a Taser, State Police said in a statement.

Stephen Palmer, of 23 Lafayette St., died after police responded to his home on a report of an unruly man, state and city police said.

State police are investigating the incident at the request of State's Attorney David Cohen. Five city officers were injured in the incident, Assistant Chief Robert Nivakoff said in a statement.

At 11:05 a.m. Wednesday, caseworkers from the Franklin S. DuBois Center, a state-run mental health treatment center on Summer Street, called police after dealing with Palmer, a patient who allegedly threatened his roommate and Dubois Center doctors who had gone to his residence.

Officers responded to the home and Palmer let them inside, only to attack them moments later, the Stamford Police Department said in a statement. He disobeyed officers and became aggressive toward them, so they used pepper spray on him, which proved ineffective.

A Stamford officer then shocked Palmer with a Taser, a stun gun that delivers an electric shock to incapacitate suspects. Officers were able to handcuff Palmer, but he went into medical distress soon afterward, state police said in a statement. Stamford police said Palmer seemed to have trouble breathing.

Paramedics tried to help Palmer at the scene and he was transported to Stamford Hospital and pronounced dead a short time late. The five Stamford officers injured in the incident were treated and released.

State troopers in the Major Crime unit are gathering evidence at the scene and interviewing witnesses in the case, which is still under investigation. Nivakoff said it is procedure for the state police to conduct an independent investigation.

He would not name the officer who Tasered Palmer, saying the department would do so later.

"It is a sad day for us all," Nivakoff said in a statement. "I feel very confident that the officers involved properly followed the department's continuum of force procedure and this will be evident at the conclusion of the state's investigation."

Staff Writer Jeff Morganteen can be reached at jeff.morganteen@scni.com or 203-964-2215.