More Stories About Bob Bagnell

Here are some recollections of Bob Bagnell, or references to him found on the Internet:

June 2005: A Report from BBC News:

"With electronic stun guns now being used by a growing number of UK police forces, BBC News examines the controversy in North America, where a series of deaths have put Tasers under fresh scrutiny.

When Robert Bagnell died in Canada last June, his family were told he had suffered a probable cocaine overdose.

The truth emerged in fits and starts, however. They eventually learned that police had jolted him with 50,000 volts of electricity from a Taser gun."
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March 2005: From Patti Gillman, Bob's sister:

"My brother, Robert Bagnell, died in Vancouver on June 23, 2004, after Vancouver Police shot him twice in the "stun mode" with Tasers. Witnesses say that, on the night of his death in a fifth-floor bathroom at the Continental Hotel, a residential hotel in Vancouver's Downtown East Side, Robert appeared to be having a seizure and he required medical assistance. We believe that, because of his Downtown East Side address, and his membership in a marginalized segment of society dismissed as unimportant, Patrol and Emergency Response Team were first to arrive and, within moments of being Tasered, Robert (aged 44) was dead. Robert was not breaking any laws, he was unarmed and he was posing no credible threat to police or anyone else. We do not know what other restraint methods were used in conjuction with the Tasers."
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CBC News, July 2004: From Riki Bagnell, Bob's mother:

"I think they have to test them and re-test them and do everything they can to justify their use and what circumstances they should be used... I regret that no one told us about the Taser use, because perhaps we could have prepared for that. It's a hard way to find out what happened to your son."
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March 2005: From a friend of Patti Gillman, Bob's sister:

"Did you know that Bobby was an artist and that even in the darkness of drug addiction, the window of his soul was open to the world through his art work. Sadly, he was planning an art show to share his special gift which never took place. A day before his death, a friend visited him, and they talked together about this and other matters. This woman has spoken with Riki - bringing each of their hearts some consolation. Riki now knows that her son did not die completely alone without the benefit of friendship as she had feared. The woman now knows that Riki wanted nothing more than for people to love her son as any mother does.

Riki spoke of Bobby's temperament. A gentle person with a tortured soul. He was a son, a brother, a friend-kept safely in the hearts of those who knew and admired his inner spirit. Even as life's pain ravaged the very core of that soul, they never wavered in their attempts to protect him through their love. I have no doubt that he found solace in knowing of that love-even though it could not completely deliver him from his pain.

...It saddens Riki that, according to society, Bobby was assigned to a collection of people to be dismissed as unimportant. I know she wants all of you to explore the faces of the lost - to consider that somewhere beyond that person - a sister misses her brother, a mother visits a son in her dreams, and a father's tears fall in the darkness."
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March 2005: From Riki Bagnell, Bob's mother:

"Thank you so very much for the moving tribute to our Son, Robert (Bobby) Bagnell. It is a great comfort to know that he was not alone in his life, that so many cared. And, as his friend, I would like you to know that he was deeply loved by his Mother and Father and his sister. We have missed him for so many years, he was out greatest loss and we will always regret that we could not find him for a long time. Our only wish now is that he has finally found peace. Wherever he is, his spirit is here with us, we feel it every day. Thanks again John....we'll drop by that corner to see you one day soon.....Riki Bagnell"
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