Mounties apologize, pay for stun gun death

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 1 (UPI) -- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police formally apologized Thursday to the mother of a man who died after being shot five times with a stun gun in British Columbia.

At a Vancouver news conference, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass spoke directly to Zofia Cisowski about the October 2007 death of her 40-year-old son Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver International Airport, The Globe and Mail reported.

"Ms. Cisowski, on behalf of the RCMP, I want to apologize for our role in the tragic death of your son," he said, without acknowledging any wrongdoing by the officers.

Bass said the force was also paying her a financial settlement but details wouldn't be disclosed, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

Dziekanski, who spoke no English, had been flying for 20 hours and had been at the airport for 11 hours when he was videotaped throwing luggage and yelling before police arrived.

The videotape showed four RCMP officers and security staff wrestling with him and shocking him five times in 31 seconds before he stopped breathing.