Police bodycam footage has captured the horrifying moment screams were heard as a teenage boy was seen ‘running around with a taser’ in Wigan last weekend.
Officers detained the 16-year-old near Wigan bus station, on New Market Street, on Saturday evening (January 11). Officers say they came across someone ‘acting suspiciously’ at about 7pm.
After hearing screams coming from near the interchange, they later found the teenage boy to be in possession of the 60000k volt 928-type taser. He was forced to the ground and arrested.
New footage, shared by Greater Manchester Police, has captured the moment the teenager was arrested on suspicion of firearms offences after officers found the electric stun gun.
The suspect was forced to the ground and arrested
(Image: GMP)
Screams can be heard before an officer says “that’s a taser that.” The electric stun gun can be heard being activated in the background before officers run over to the bus station entrance and force the suspect, wearing a coat with its hood up, to the ground.
Greater Manchester Police said the 16-year-old has been bailed but ‘remains under investigation due to the reckless and foolish behaviour’. Nobody was injured in the incident.
The taser seized by police
(Image: Greater Manchester Police)
Inspector Jon Ezard from GMP’s Operation Venture team said: “This incident demonstrates the seriousness of having a weapon like this and using it in a public place is not only dangerous but extremely foolish.
“Thankfully, due to swift action from our officers we were able to prevent any harm and meant we have seized and removed this item from being used again to either inflict injury or cause fear.
“Our officers only deploy their tasers when really needed to ultimately protect the public when attending incidents and requires rigorous training to be granted authority to obtain one as part of their duties. It goes without saying, no matter the age, tasers should not be used or bought by the public to play about with.
“As part of our deployments across Greater Manchester we patrol key hotspots based on intelligence we gather to ensure we can have an active presence in these areas to prevent crime from happening and will continue to use a mix of high-visibility policing and covert tactics to keep local communities safe.”