Tasered man accused of swinging hammer at police

City police deployed a Taser while attempting to arrest a man who is now accused of swinging a hammer at officers.

Members of the guns and gangs unit responded Wednesday around 11 p.m. to a home in the 500 block of Whitewood Crescent as part of an uttering-threats investigation, and also after learning that a firearm may have been in the Lakeview-area residence, police said in a news release.

When he was told he was under arrest, “the suspect picked up a hammer and began swinging it at officers,” police said in the news release.

A struggle ensued, at which point a conducted energy weapon — commonly known as a Taser — was deployed, police said.

With help from patrol officers,

stolen rifle at her forehead with every intention to kill her. As she lay bleeding and near death on the sidewalk, he flippantly texted her: “Kay. I’m gone.” Miraculously that girl, also 16, survived but with severe, lasting injuries.

The teen, now known as the La Loche shooter — killing four people and injuring seven more — said some of his victims weren’t even targets but merely “happened to be there in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

On some level, I get homicide fuelled by drugs and alcohol, or spur-of-the-moment acts of provocation or passion. But when did harming or killing anyone become “no biggy?” I struggle to make sense of the disconnect between light banter and calculated, dark acts.

Immaturity and bluster provide some explanation. Even the friend, in testifying about her exchange with Prockner, tearfully told his sentencing hearing, “I was 16 years old, and I talked a lot of smack.”

When did murder plots become a casual conversation for teens? And that’s not to cast blame on those who — no doubt regretfully now — perhaps didn’t believe the the suspect was taken into custody.

Officers later found a hidden shotgun and ammunition inside the home, the release stated.

A 28-year-old man is charged with two counts each of uttering threats, assault and possession of a dangerous weapon, as well as one count each of prohibited possession of a firearm, prohibited possession of ammunition, unauthorized possession of a firearm, careless storage of a firearm and breach of probation.

The suspect was examined by MD Ambulance but did not require further treatment, police said, adding two officers sustained minor injuries.

The incident will be reviewed in accordance with police policy. Postmedia News

perpetrator was serious. Hindsight offers clarity, at any age.

But in Prockner’s case, some went beyond mere talk, by offering encouragement or help in an earlier revenge plot, and never saying “no” or “stop.” Another teen, who has pleaded guilty to murdering Hannah and still faces sentencing, was supposedly her friend.

Days before Prockner’s sentencing, as I sat at the Conexus Arts Centre and watched capand-gown-clad high school grads cross the stage, my mind drifted to Hannah Leflar — a child of my city who should have had that same opportunity.

My thoughts were eventually disrupted by the valedictory address, delivered by an articulate, passionate teen-near-woman. Lauded recently as a YWCA Young Woman of Distinction, she has contributed to this community in every way possible.

Figure out a way to cultivate kids who become that promising valedictorian, and not the ones who would so carelessly consider ending a promising life.