LOUISIANA, Mo., Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Officials in Louisiana, Mo., say they are preparing for a possible lawsuit after police used Tasers to stop a man attempting to save his stepson from a fire.
The Oct. 31 fire killed 3-year-old Riley Jeffrey Rieser, The Louisiana Press-Journal reported Thursday.
Officer William Harrison and Sgt. Jeffrey Salois said they shocked the boy's stepfather, Ryan Miller, because "they were worried he would succumb to the smoke and heat and we'd have another fatality," said City Administrator Bob Jenne.
The city is waiting to see whether its insurance carrier will require an external investigation of the incident, Jenne said, because an internal investigation "would look like we were trying to cover something up."
Miller and his wife were in the process of adopting the boy when he died in the fire.
