It's all so depressingly familiar.Footage shot by witnesses showed Riley wailing as he was held down for seven minutes before an ambulance arrived.
If you're wondering what he did to warrant such measures,
Given that this is the police version of events, I will admit to having some skepticism. Though even if an accurate rendition of events, it suggests to me a serious need to improve police training to deal with mentally unwell people. Where's the attempt at de-escalating? Why is your immediate reaction to taser the guy? Just because he said he's going to kill you doesn't mean you have to take him seriously. He's an unarmed guy clearly going through a mental health crisis who's more a risk to himself than others...two police officers had attended the Officeworks store in East Perth in May 2017 in response to unrelated reports of a robbery. They were alerted to Riley who was seen rocking from side to side and slapping his forehead... The officers approached the father of six and called triple zero to request an ambulance when he did not engage with them. Collins said Riley had then advanced on police and shouted “I’m going to kill you”, prompting Const Rory Winterburn to discharge his Taser. The police officers attempted to restrain the prone man as he struggled. “During this resistance, Mr Riley made repeated and continuous attempts to take possession of Constable [James] Wolfe’s firearm and bit down hard on Constable Wolfe’s arm causing it to bleed heavily,” Collins told the inquest.
It's also worth taking a look at the original reporting,
Once again we have no mention of restraint, a distortion of the timeline - the man was actually tasered before any physical contact with him was made - and an attempt to make it seem like he lived longer than he did. The Guardian say that he was taken to hospital where "he was pronounced dead" which sounds to me like he was dead on arrival. It's a minor point but it's something I've noticed in several of these cases. There seems to be this desire to distance the officers physically from the death. You didn't kill him, he just got sick and died elsewhere.A man has died after he was allegedly Tasered by a police officer in East Perth on Friday. Police were responding to a robbery in Lord Street around 11.35am, when officers came across a man that needed medical attention. As officers helped the man he became aggressive and a police officer was injured. A officer then allegedly Tasered the man who became unresponsive. The man was taken to Royal Perth Hospital and died a short time later.