ARLINGTON, Texas (WBAP/KLIF News) — Three police officers suffered from smoke inhalation and the man they were attempting to subdue is hospitalized with severe burns after dousing himself in gasoline and then being shot with a police stun gun.
At a news conference Monday Sgt. VaNessa Harrison explained that officers responded to the unnamed man’s home around noon after getting a report from two women who said he was mentally ill and threatening suicide. When officers arrived they found the man had poured gasoline on himself and was preparing to to use what was believed to be a lighter in his hand.
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Harrison said the man was “very frantic and erratic and became a danger to everyone in the room.” In an attempt to take him into custody an officer used a Taser on him and he went up in flames.
Sgt. Harrison explained, “It’s unclear at this moment whether he became engulfed in flames from the gasoline and ignitable object he had in his hand or from the Taser.”
The man and the three officers are all expected to recover.
