Witness Comes Forward in Fatal Erlanger Taser Incident

A witness has come forward in the case of the man who died after Erlanger officers shocked him with a Taser.

NewsChannel 9 has made the decision to hide this woman's identity because she is concerned about retaliation.

When asked why she came forward, she said she watched NewsChannel 9 on Monday and saw the family of Edward Buckner crying and asking for answers.

She says she's barely been able to sleep since witnessing the incident at Erlanger last week, and she finally decided to speak up.

The witness tells us she was at the hospital that day, waiting on family member who was receiving treatment, when she saw a man being escorted out of the west wing door by a man and a woman.

The witness says she saw Buckner fall to his knees and the woman holding him began asking him, "Why are you doing this?"

The witness says Buckner appeared weak, as though he was having trouble standing.

While Buckner was on the ground, staff brought out a wheelchair.  But the witness says they couldn't lift Buckner into the chair. That's when Erlanger Police came out.

The witness took a picture showing what happened next. In it, you can see a man on the ground, surrounded by hospital staff and uniformed officers.

The witness says one of those officers put her fist into Buckner's chest, and he began screaming in pain.  She then says the officer grabbed Buckner by the back of the head and told him to get up. The woman says she saw  Buckner rolled over onto his stomach.  When he didn't get off the ground, the witness says that's when another officer pulled out his Taser. 

She says the male officer shocked him three times with the Taser. She tells us he was on the ground the entire time.

Erlanger officers told detectives handling the case that Buckner got combative. The witness, who says she was there when the van originally pulled up, also says she stayed for the entire incident. 

She says, "I never saw that. Never. At no point." 

She says she also never saw him struggle, fight, or even yell at anyone at anytime.

"The only thing I heard him say was 'Aaaah' when she was putting her fist in his chest," the witness says.

In light of this witnesses statement, we called Erlanger again. Hospital Spokesperson Pat Charles says they are not commenting on an ongoing criminal investigation. But she does assure us they will answer our questions when the investigation is complete.

According to the medical examiner's office, Edward Buckner's autopsy should be finished, but the report is still pending.