...And It Was Caught On Tape

A disturbing video showing officers tasering a Polish immigrant at the Vancouver Airport -- which shows the man writhing in pain on the floor, just before he dies -- is making the rounds on the Internet.

The video was recorded by another traveler last month, reports CBS, and shows four Royal Canadian Mounted Police surrounding Robert Dziekanski. Authorities say Dziekanski loitered in the arrivals area for 10 hours after his October 14 flight landed, waiting for his mother to come pick him up after his first-ever plane ride.

Dziekanski's mother had told him to wait in the baggage claim area -- but she was unable to get there, and couldn't get a message to him. She later went home after airport personnel said her son had never arrived.

As this transpired, Dziekanski grew increasingly agitated. "He's holding a folding table at the door to the arrivals area of Vancouver airport," CBC reporter Terry Milewski narrates on the video. "He's exhausted, confused, and breathing heavily."

A bystander attempted to calm the man down, but Dziekanski didn't understand. Police were called in when he threw a computer, and a piece of wooden furniture.

Dziekanski appears calm when police arrive. He backed up, with his hands in the air, and turned away from police.... which is when the officers hit him with the 50,000-volt Taser, bringing him to the ground. Officers then tasered the man a second time, as he screamed on the ground.

"Probably the most disturbing part is one of the officers using his leg and his knee to pin his head and his neck against the ground," said Paul Pritchard, who made the video. Dziekanski died shortly after.

Several who watched the video say the police overreacted.

"I don't know why it ever became a police incident," said retired Vancouver police Superintendent. Ron Foyle. "It didn't seem that he made any threatening gestures towards them."

Aviation consultant Michael Boyd agreed. "Not a lot goes on in an airport. So, if you're there and there's an incident, sometimes they might overreact," Boyd told CBS. "It looks like that's what happened in Vancouver."

Officials with the RCMP said the public shouldn't rush to judgment. "it is only one piece of evidence and it's one person's view, the viewfinder of one individual," said RCMP Cpl. Dale Carr, who added something provoked the officers to respond the way they did.

Dziekanski's mother saw a part of the video, and said her son was frightened and looking for help, according to her attorney.

FMI: www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca