A man has been Tasered following an early morning incident in Co Down.
Specialist firearms officers were scrambled to an address in the Brookfield Meadows area of Banbridge following a “concern for safety.”
Images posted to social media show armed response officers approaching the property shortly before 9am on Saturday.
A PSNI spokesperson said: “At approximately 8.50am, specially trained officers attended the incident and deployed a Conducted Energy Device (CED) to prevent further harm to a person, who was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment.
“He has since been arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and released pending a report to the Public Prosecution Service.
“As is normal procedure the Police Ombudsman’s Office has been informed of the incident.”
In previous instances police have outlined that only specially trained officers in the PSNI have access to CEDs as an option that can be deployed when strict criteria have been met.
The use of a CED such as the Taser provides police with an option to manage individuals who are presenting a very high risk of violence or serious harm to themselves or others.
Each time the PSNI deploys a CED, the incident is automatically referred to the Police Ombudsman.
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