The Region - News from June 6, 1986

A man who allegedly broke into a private school in Van Nuys died after police shot him twice with a Taser stun-gun and struck him with batons. Los Angeles Police Lt. Charles Higbie said two officers who confronted the man in a darkened classroom at the French American School in the 14700 block of Victory Boulevard, found him “kicking and cursing an invisible opponent” and tried to subdue him with two jolts from the Taser gun before using their batons. The man, whose identity was not released, died at a nearby hospital. An autopsy and toxicological tests were scheduled. He was the fourth person to die in Los Angeles since 1983 after being shot by a Taser gun, a weapon that delivers a 50,000-volt electric shock but is considered non-lethal by police.