UK police taser blind man after mistaking his cane for a gun

A blind man who was waiting for a train home was tasered by police at a railway station in Manchester, England, after someone reported that his walking stick was a firearm.

Armed police attended the scene at Levenshulme train station on Thursday night after it was reported that a middle-aged man had been seen carrying a gun.

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When the blind man failed to respond to demands that he lower his "weapon," officers shot him with a high powered stun gun. Shortly after hitting him with the taser police realised that the “firearm” was in fact the blind man’s walking stick and, far from posing a threat, he had merely been waiting for a train.

Tasawar Dar, who runs a convenience store beside the station, told the Manchester Evening News that he saw heavily armed police at the scene. and another eyewitness said that the officers pointed their weapons at the blind man.

“I heard the police and they shouted ‘lie down on the ground’ and there was the bark of a dog as well,” Dar said.

The Telegraph is reporting that the man collapsed on the platform before being detained by officers. “Officers later discovered the man was in possession of a folding cane and he was subsequently released,” a police spokesperson said.

Dar added that the police bought the man a can of Coca-Cola after shocking him with 50,000 volts. The incident will be investigated by Greater Manchester Police’s Professional Standards Branch.