1/6/2004: Yesterday civil rights attorney John Burris announced that he had been retained by the family of Gregory Saulsbury, Jr.
1/4/2004: The San Jose Mercury News has reported three Bay Area police officer-involved deaths in the last 3 days. Two men died in San Mateo County on January 2nd after police were called for help with mental crisis situations. Tasers were used in both fatal cases on Sunday.
Tuesday: In Santa Clara, police officers shot and killed a motorist just after midnight last night, following a car chase in which the driver allegedly refused to pull over and then rammed a patrol car. The police say that the motorist was spotted driving eratically as officers were cleaning up a scene where a pedestrian had been killed by crossing a street. Police have not yet released the dead man's name. The case will be investigated by the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office

Sunday: On January 2nd Greg Saulsbury died, Pacifica police say, after being stunned with Tasers, which use darts to deliver a 50,000-volt charge. His family had called 911 to say Saulsbury, who was 30 years old, was having difficulty breathing. His sister, Laneka Saulsbury, told the Mercury News her brother thought people were "after him'' and that he might have taken some kind of controlled substance. The police said that they tased him after a struggle, but his family denied that there had been a struggle.

In Redwood City on Sunday, an unidentified man who had allegedly been holding a machete-like knife and had lasted through an eight-hour standoff died after Tasers, rubber projectiles and pepper spray were used on him to no avail. After the man allegedly broke through a window, several officers shot and killed him. Police Capt. Scott Warner said the man's family called police early in the afternoon, saying that the man was acting strangely and had assaulted his nephew. When officers arrived, the man barricaded himself in the closet of a first-floor bedroom. A total of five officers, including members of a SWAT team, used lethal or non-lethal weapons on the man, and they are now all on paid administrative leave pending an investigation in the case.
Family First Aid Kit | Amnesty International Report About Tasers