Staff report

PARKTON — A well-known Parkton man who battled mental illness has died after being stunned twice with a Taser by Robeson County sheriff’s deputies.

George McKeachen, better known around the small town as “Scooby,” died Friday morning at Southeastern Regional Medical Center. He was taken there after sheriff’s deputies tried to subdue him near the 301 Kwik Shop at 23011 U.S. 301 at about 7:23 a.m., according to a statement from the Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies responded to a call about McKeachen’s disorderly conduct and found him near the store, Sheriff Kenneth Sealey said in the statement. Deputies used a Taser to subdue McKeachen after he began assaulting officers and tried to take a patrol car, but it seemed to have no effect, Sealey said.

McKeachen began assaulting officers again, was stunned a second time, and then tried to take another patrol vehicle, Sealey said. McKeachen then lost consciousness as deputies continued to subdue him.

Officers performed CPR in attempt to revive McKeachen, Sealey said. He was taken by ambulance to the medical center, where he later died.

The case is under investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation. The deputies, who have not been identified, have been placed on administrative leave pending the investigation, which is protocol for such incidents, Sealey said.

Surveillance video shows McKeachen striking a man in the parking lot on the head with a pipe before entering the store, knocking items off of the shelves and assaulting two customers.

McKeachen had been banned in March from a nearby Shell service station at 97 South Fayetteville Road for panhandling and harassing customers, a store clerk said. He was often seen outside of the store, where he would ask people for money.

He “probably asked St. Peter for $5 bucks,” said Jack Hughes in a post on Facebook. “At one time, he had a good heart. Turned into a plum crazy dude, though.”

“He might not have been all there mentally but other than asking for a cigarette or a drink I don’t know of anyone that he ever hurt or put in danger,” read another post by Marie Brisson. “… Everytime I seen him he asked how my grandmother was doing and gave my boys high-fives.”

McKeachen lived at Green Manor Rest Home at 1165 West Parkton Tobermory Road. A woman who answered the phone at the facility declined to comment on the incident.

There have been at least three other deaths involving stun guns in North Carolina during the past four years.

— Seventeen-year-old Darryl Turner, of Charlotte, died in March 2008 after he was shocked by a police officer. A federal jury found the gun manufacturer at fault and awarded Turner’s family $4.3 million.

— Michael Evans, 56, died last August after he was hit with a stun gun by Fayetteville police. Three officers were cleared of any wrongdoing.

— Last November, 61-year-old Roger Anthony of Halifax County died after he was shocked. A former police officer is facing the charge of involuntary manslaughter.

According to Amnesty International, at least 500 people in the United States have died since 2001 after being shocked with Tasers either during their arrest or while in jail.