MAN SHOT WITH TASER BY POLICE DIES

Three Deaths In Northern California Last Week After Stun-Gun Shootings

A 33-year-old East Bay man with a history of drug use and criminal behavior
has died after being shot by Fremont police with a Taser.

Eric Mahoney, of Alameda, died at Washington Hospital in Fremont on
Wednesday night. Fremont police shot Mahoney with a Taser, a hand-held
device intended to temporarily immobilize criminals by emitting an electric
shock, on July 29 as he attempted to climb a wall near the Extended Stay
America motel in Fremont to escape police.

The Alameda County coroner's office has conducted an autopsy and as of
Saturday evening was waiting for toxicology test results to determine what
contributed to or caused his death.

Fremont police reported that they found about two ounces of methamphetamine
in the car driven by Mahoney's girlfriend and have said they believed that
Mahoney was high on some kind of stimulant. Police found what they believe
to be stolen mail, credit cards and checks in Mahoney's motel room, and say
he was a parolee at large for a previous burglary.

The death was one of three last week among Northern California residents
shot by Tasers, prompting some civil rights groups to call for more
restrictions on their use.

The devices have been seen as an alternative to using guns on fleeing
suspects or suspects who attack police.

Generally, authorities defend their use. Some police have said that a
condition known as "excited delirium," that can occur when a person is on
methamphetamine, cocaine, PCP or other drug, or is suffering mental
illness, can cause heart stoppage. Critics say police have in some
instances overused Tasers, shooting suspects multiple times, for example,
with up to 50,000 volts of electricity.

Brian Patrick O'Neil, 33, of San Jose, died Monday after police used a
Taser on him during a confrontation in which they say he broke into a
private home and fought with a man inside.

Also, Dwayne Zachary, 44, of Foothill Farms, near Sacramento, died late
Thursday after he was shot several times with a stun gun during a fight
with five Sacramento sheriff's deputies late Thursday.