Virginia Beach police officer was blinded in one eye by a Taser probe during training, lawsuit says
Virginia Beach VA Nov 29 2019
A veteran Virginia Beach police officer was shot in the eye with a Taser probe two years ago while helping teach a class on the proper way to use the stun gun.
Former Master Police Officer Shawn Curran, who says his right eye suffered “catastrophic injuries” from an errant probe fired inside the Virginia Beach Law Enforcement Training Academy, filed a federal lawsuit earlier this month against Axon Enterprises, formerly known as Taser International, and one of the company’s employees, Richard Nelson.
In an email, one of Curran’s attorneys said his client “no longer has any usable vision” in his right eye.
“He wears a patch and feels constant pressure in the eye,” Scott Bucci said, adding that while the Taser probe struck Curran, it did not shock him.
Bucci declined further comment on the lawsuit, as did an Axon spokesman.
According to the lawsuit, Curran was helping Dec. 14, 2017, with a “Taser Conducted Energy Weapon instructor course” when he was injured. It was a two-day certification class where participants could become certified by Axon as Taser instructors. They could then train other people to become certified.
The course included written course work, static drills and “active scenario-based training” that included the firing of Tasers at stand-in aggressors.
Such training occurred in the academy’s gymnasium area, where several “accordion style wrestling mats” were placed on end. They were arranged as walls to form a large square.
The area inside the walls was the “hot zone,” where officers were supposed to fire their Tasers. Outside, was the “safe zone,” where officers and others were supposed to wait.
Under Nelson’s supervision, Curran and another person played “aggressors” who were supposed to charge the trainees inside the hot zone. The lawsuit said they sometimes chased the trainees into the safe zone, though.
Curran and the other aggressor wore full safety suits and helmets that were “very heavy” and offered “limited ventilation,” the lawsuit said. The two men took turns charging trainees, with one entering the hot zone while the other waited outside with his helmet off.
Problems arose while Curran was taking a break and the other aggressor charged a trainee. When the two were approximately 10 to 15 feet outside of the “hot zone,” the trainee fired the Taser. The lawsuit said the trainee missed the aggressor, striking Curran instead.
“Defendant Nelson knew from past instances during the training exercise … that unless adequate precautions were taken … such actions could lead to significant injury,” the lawsuit said.
Curran joined the department in 1999 only to leave last year as a result of his injuries. He was making almost $73,000 a year when he left the department, a police spokeswoman said.
DailyPress
