Dramatic footage shows moment police taser knife-wielding man on train station platform
This is the moment police had to taser a knife-wielding man at a railway station as shocked commuters looked on.
Police were called to the station after people reported a man making threats while brandishing a 20-cm knife.
Footage of the scenes at Keighley train station show officers surrounding the man close to the edge of the platform before discharging the taser.
The man is seen to drop to the ground before being detained after the incident, which happened at around 6pm on Friday evening.
Witnesses say officers tasered the man after he refused to put his weapon down.
They said officers had tried to get the knife out of the man’s hand before deciding to use the taser to disarm him.
He was given medical attention and taken into custody.
The dramatic incident was captured on video by Damon Ralph, 32, from Skipton, North Yorkshire, as he waited for his train home.
He said he heard police sirens and saw around 20 officers come down the platform.
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“They were trying to get the public away from this man, and then he just pulled out a knife and refused to drop it,” he said.
“They were telling him to drop the knife but he refused, I think they were trying to hit him in the legs to get him on the ground, then used the taser as a last resort.”
He described the speed with which the police disarmed the man as “so fast”, saying “they were fantastic”.
A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “Police were called to Keighley Railway Station at 5.54pm yesterday (Friday) after a male was reported to have produced a knife and made threats.
“A description was passed to the attending officers who first spoke to the male in an attempt to get him to drop the weapon.
“The male refused to drop the knife and threatened officers, so attempts were made to knock it out of his hand with a baton before taser was deployed.
“The 30-year-old male was given immediate medical attention and the knife was safely recovered.”