[seowulf]

I didn't it was against the law to climb a tree and act strangely. I'm going to have to be more careful.

[beltfed308]

Deputies carry both a Taser and a gun on their utility belts. The Taser used is similar in shape to the 40-caliber compact model gun the deputy used, Wilson said.

This guy has demonstrated total inability to be around firearms. Bye Bye.

[ncountylee]

Substitute citizen for the officer and the "mistake" might become attempted murder.

[NonValueAdded]

Deputies and rescue personnel attempted to coax the man from the tree for almost two hours before he was shot. During that time, the man was becoming increasingly hostile toward rescue personnel and deputies trying to get him out of the tree, witness David Blakeslee said.

How hostile can a man get 15 to 20 feet up in a fig tree? Was he spitting or pissing on the officers below? Throwing down handfuls of leaves? Shaking the branches at them is a fierce and menacing way? Assuming the deputy pulled the correct weapon and tased the guy, wouldn't that make him fall out of the tree? As it turns out, the shot to the leg was probably the better of the two alternatives given the errant arborist could descend on his own.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

In this case it seems like the shot in the leg was safer than a taser.
Instead of falling out of the tree he climbed down.

[Drango]

meant to fire a Taser, not the gun

I hate it when that happens!

[MineralMan]

Seems to me that the cops are getting just a little too free with the use of tasers these days. I guess, since they're non-lethal, they feel like they can just zap anyone who doesn't immediately ask "how high?" when told to jump.

[MrBambaLaMamba]

Yo Cody! Hold mah taser and watch this!

[Moonman62]

I didn't it was against the law to climb a tree and act strangely.

It's not if the tree is in your own yard.

[Dionysius]

Ah, we are led to believe that the victim's only transgression was that he climbed up the fig tree and acted strangely. It was only at the end of the article, like a trivial afterthought, that we learn this eccentric tree-lover "charged the deputies with a machete". Like "Motorist" Rodney King, this gentle sort will go down in journalism annals as "Climber".

[rake]

They wanted to get him down before he hurt himself or others, Wilson said.

LOL! Others? He'd have to come down from the tree to hurt others. And they were worried that he'd hurt himself so they decided to taser him? Wow.

[robertpaulsen]

Repeat after me:

This is my Taser,
This is my gun.
This is for tasing ...

[GreenHornet]

The deputy, who has five years on the force, meant to fire a Taser, not the gun

D'OH!!!!!

[Bon mots]

The cop is clearly an idiot...

However, I liked the "baron in the tree"'s response...

"Ow! That hurt! I'm coming down. I'm coming down."

Maybe this guy had just finished reading Italo Calvino's whimsical tale of the Baron who had enough of terrestrial life and just took to the trees...

I guess a whole in the leg can put a dent in ones arboreal lifestyle ambitions.

[Manic_Episode]

I WANT A WOMAN!!!....I WANT A WOMAN!!!

[festus]

This officer should be first responder to all tree'd cat calls........................