A police officer in Eumseong accidentally fired a Taser into a middle-school student while demonstrating the device to a group of teenagers. According to Eumseong Police Station, the incident happened at about 4:30 p.m. on September 10 in an open area in Daeso-eup, North Chungcheong Province. The injured student was taken to hospital for treatment.
How the misfire happened
The officer had been returning from another call when roughly 10 middle-school students asked to see the Taser. Investigators said the officer intended to demonstrate the device's stun function, which produces an electrical effect without firing the probes. However, the probe cartridge was still attached to the weapon and the officer did not notice before activating it, causing a probe to strike the student's thigh.
The incident raises a straightforward handling question because the injury occurred during an informal demonstration rather than an enforcement action. The immediate issue for police is how the cartridge remained in place when the officer intended to use a non-projectile mode, and whether procedures for demonstrating conducted-energy weapons need tighter controls.