A Colombian teenager has died after being shot with a Taser by police when he was caught painting graffiti on a building, officials said Thursday.
Israel Hernandez, 18, fled on foot after being confronted by police while painting graffiti on a wall in "Little Buenos Aires," an Argentine enclave in Miami Beach, Florida.
According to a police statement, officers shot Hernandez with the Taser after he refused to stop.
After being arrested and taken into custody, Hernandez showed "signs of medical duress" and was rushed to Miami's Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Police said a cause of death had not been determined while autopsy and toxicology results were pending.
The Colombian consulate in Miami declined to comment, confirming only that the dead teenager's family had moved to the city six years ago.
Friends of Hernandez told local media, meanwhile, that the teenager was a passionate graffiti artist who had painted several legal murals in the Wynwood district in the north of the city.
© (C) 2013. AFP
13 Comments
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nath
Land of the free.
Meguroman
Name a country where you can run away from the police? And in this case he was caught you red-handed breaking the law. They used what is normally non-lethal force AFTER he wouldn`t stop. He may have a medical condition or had consumed illegal substances. It is a tragedy all around.
cleo
Since when was graffiti-painting a capital offence? Weapons should only ever be used when there is a credible likelihood the suspect will harm someone if he is not stopped immediately. Only a coward shoots someone who is running away.
CanoeCanoe
He had something shiny and dangerous...a spray can. Land of the Police State.
Laguna
I'd agree if the incident had happened in Japan, but the chances that an individual is carrying a firearm is just too high in America for policemen to put their lives on the line like that. This is why most police unions support firearm restrictions.
Also, though the "victim" may have been a so-called "graffiti artist," in this case, he was simply a vandal.
megosaa
Murrica!
On another note, as a guest in another country, he should respect it's law and be grateful especially one that hosts and protects your family.
Elbuda Mexicano
Just a stupid young kid, doing something dumb, and now he has paid with his young life. Maybe he already some other heart problems etc..and the tasering sent him into heart attack arrest?? Not too sure, but never knew there was a so called Little Argentina (Buenos Aires) out there in Miami, just knew there were plenty of Cubans and Little Havana, but any way I wonder what the local Argentine homeboys felt about this Colombian kid 'turf"??
HonestDictator
So he painted 6 legal murals but decided to go beyond that and vandalize someone elses property without their consent? The difference between graffiti art and vandalism is getting consent from the person who owns the property. Him dying from a taser is a tragic end, but they still need to get more information as to why he died from supposedly non-lethal methods.
HonestDictator
Correct that, 7 legal murals.
toshiko
In Florida, police do not use real guns but volunteer neighbor watcher use real guns.
Sparky Santos
Open season on kids in Florida.
yabits
He wasn't the first.
There goes that theory.