Stephen L. Edwards

How they died

Less-than-lethal force

A security guard stopped Edwards and his wife on suspicion of shoplifting. The two men were fighting in the parking lot when the first officer arrived at the scene. The officer said he ordered Edwards to stop, but the man walked away, so the officer fired the Taser, shocking Edwards four times within a minute and 14 seconds. Police said they feared Edwards would reach for a gun that had fallen from his waistband onto the ground. A second police officer had to punch the 266-pound man twice before they could handcuff him, the report said. As he lay face down on the pavement, witnesses heard Edwards say he couldn't breathe. When police officers rolled him over, he had "a blue face," according to reports. Officers started CPR, but Edwards was pronounced dead at Providence St. Peter's Hospital.

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Stephen L. Edwards, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources