PROBE CLEARS COPS IN DEATH

Inquiry Finds Man Struck By Taser Died Of Drug Overdose

Overuse of cocaine and not being zapped by a Taser is what caused
Gordon Walker Bowe's death in police custody last November, the head
of the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team said yesterday.

As a result, ASIRT executive director Clifton Purvis said no charges
will be filed against the four city police officers involved.

Bowe, 30, had a toxic level of cocaine in his system when he broke
into a vacant house under construction in the 500 block of 42 St.
S.E., said Purvis.

"The medical examiner reports that Gordon Bowe died as a result of
excited delirium syndrome due to, or as a consequence of, cocaine
toxicity," he said.

When police arrived at the home, Bowe was acting erratically, said Purvis.

"After having identified themselves as police officers, they issued
numerous commands to him, which went unheeded," he said

"They also observed him to be damaging property and injuring himself
in the basement."

An officer shot Bowe with a Taser through a broken window, and
thinking it worked, climbed in to arrest him.

But only one barb hit Bowe, and he started fighting with the officer.

Three other officers climbed in and the officer with the Taser tried
using it on stun mode, which was also unsuccessful.

The officers eventually subdued Bowe, said Purvis, and he went into
medical distress before dying later in hospital.

But Bowe's family dismissed the findings, saying the investigation
was neither complete nor impartial.

"We would have liked to see an impartial investigation," said Bowe's
father-in-law, John Chernenkoff from his home near Castlegar, B.C.

"Something that focused on more possibilities other than excited delirium.

"That's the only thing they ever focused on."

Chernenkoff said the injuries he saw on Bowe's body were more severe
than what the medical examiner reported.

"To us, it appears the medical examiner's report is either inaccurate
or incomplete," he said.

"We saw Gordon in the hospital before they disconnected the life
support and his neck was swollen, it didn't even look like he had a
neck and he had a big red welt across his neck like someone had him
kneed to the floor.

"But in the report it says the neck is unremarkable, which is from
what I saw, a pile of bull."