Tennessee native dies in Fla. Taser incident

Tennessean
Oct. 15, 2005

A Tennessee native died in Florida on Thursday after being shot by police with a Taser outside a mental health center, according to The News-Press, a newspaper in Fort Myers, Fla.

Fort Myers Police officials said Steven Cunningham, 45, began to act hostile when he was taken by a friend to the mental center for evaluation that morning.

Officer Scott Townsend responded to the dispute and shot Cunningham with a Taser. Officials declined to say how many times the officer deployed the Taser. Cunningham collapsed and later died at Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center, police said. It was the third death involving a Taser in southwest Florida this year. Cunningham had been in Lee County, Fla., only about three months.

Townsend, 47, who has worked for the Fort Myers Police Department since 1981, was placed on paid administrative leave until an investigation has been completed. Officials said he was recently named Officer of the Year by the Lee County Bar Association.