Police zapped man, 79, with Taser

[Lurks Often]

12. These are the options/tools usually available to the average police officer

In no particular order:
1. Gun
2. Baton
3 Chemical Spray
4 Taser
5 Physical force
6 Verbal deescalation

The use of the gun is not warranted
Chemical sprays don't always work and in rare cases can cause death
Baton, likely to lead to broken bones in this situation
Physical force can result in injuries to both the subject and the officer(s)
Verbal deescalation, based on the story they tried that and it did not work
Taser, generally causes the subject to cease being violent and in rare cases can cause death

I'm not thrilled with the use of the taser, but I also don't see another method of making the subject stop being a threat to himself and others that doesn't involve a higher risk of injury to both the subject, the police officer(s) and the staff.