Officer on leave after stun-gun death

Published 12:09 am Thursday, August 15, 2013

GLOSTER (AP) — A Gloster police officer has been placed on administrative leave while an investigation proceeds into the death of a man he stunned on Monday night.

Police officials said Officer Terry Boss fired his stun-gun at a suspect while investigating the stabbing of a woman on Monday night.

Authorities said 33-year-old Lucious Gaultney died at Field Memorial Community Hospital in Centerville shortly after the stunning.

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Boss was placed on administrative leave Tuesday pending an investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

“This is something that has to be done any time a fatality happens,” said Mayor Billy Johnson.

Johnson said Boss had just completed his shift at about 10 p.m. Monday when he received a call for backup from Officer Zshakira Beverly at a trailer parked on Mississippi Highway 24.

Investigators said Gaultney allegedly stabbed his wife, Lakendra Gaultney, several times with a knife and fled on foot. Boss drove around and intercepted Gaultney on Georgia-Pacific Road No. 1.

Police say Gaultney refused to surrender, and Boss stunned Gaultney when he lunged at the officer.

Boss put Gaultney in his truck and took him to the trailer, where emergency medical personnel were treating Lakendra Gaultney. She was taken to Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center in Baton Rouge and was reported in good condition on Wednesday.

Amite County Coroner Cam Sharp pronounced Gaultney dead at the hospital. An autopsy was conducted Tuesday, but an official cause of death has not yet been posted.