TASER® Blog

Last month, I received an e-mail from Officer Justin Golder from Hellam Township, York County, Pennsylvania, describing the life-saving use of a TASER® device.  Officer Golder was dispatched to a domestic incident where a father and son were involved in a violent altercation and the son was threatening to harm himself.  As Officer Golder descended into the basement of the home, he found the son sitting with a knife pressed to the center of his chest.  The officer engaged the distressed man in conversation, trying to determine how best to help him and dissuade him from harming himself. 

After nearly 20 minutes of talking to the individual, the son became increasingly agitated and tried to push the knife through his clothes and into his chest.  Realizing the threat of the situation, Officer Golder waited for the exact moment that the man looked away and deployed his TASER® X26™, effectively immobilizing the son and preventing him from harming himself.  The son was then safely taken into custody to receive the necessary medical treatment.

Thanks to Officer Golder’s patient communication, quick decision-making, and the TASER X26, the son is alive today. 

After a decade of providing TASER devices to law enforcement, life-saving accounts such as this one still make most everyone at TASER International pause and remember exactly why we do what we do.  Thank you Officer Golder, for sharing your story with us.