As death toll keeps rising, U.S. communities start rethinking Taser use

Chinedu Okobi is pictured in a family photo in Menlo Park, California, U.S., October 16, 2010, provided December 28, 2018. Courtesy Kobi Eshun/Handout via REUTERS

(Reuters) - Warren Ragudo died after two Taser shocks by police intervening in a family altercation. Ramzi Saad died after a Taser shock by police during a dispute between Saad and his mother. Chinedu Okobi died after police used a Taser to subdue him in a confrontation they blamed on his refusal to stop walking in traffic.

All three were unarmed. All three had histories of mental illness. And all three died last year in a single northern California county, San Mateo.