The son of a prominent KSL employee died Tuesday in Washington County after a police officer deployed a Taser when the man ran down a road in what authorities called an "agitated" state.

Brian Layton Cardall, 32, was traveling with his wife south on State Road 59 near Hurricane on Tuesday afternoon. According to KSL.com, the vehicle pulled over to the side of the road when Cardall, who recently had been struggling with mental health issues, began having an "episode."

Cardall left the car and ran down the road, and his wife called police, said Washington County Undersheriff Jake Adams. A Hurricane police officer who responded to the scene deployed a Taser on Cardall, who lost consciousness, Adams said.

Cardall was treated at the scene but he was pronounced dead after being transported to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St.George, Adams said.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office did not immediately release further details about the incident.

Cardall is the son of KSL Editorial Director Duane Cardall, according to KSL.com. Attempts to reach Duane Cardall for comment Tuesday afternoon were unsuccessful.

Duane Cardall's administrative assistant said he and his wife, Margaret, were traveling to St.George late Tuesday to be with his son's wife, who is six months pregnant.

Adams said the Washington County Critical Incident Task Force is investigating Cardall's death.

The Hurricane Police Department did not return a phone call requesting comment on the officer who deployed the Taser.

A family statement released by Paul Cardall, Brian's brother and a renowned pianist from Sandy, read, "Brian is a wonderful son, brother, father, and husband who loved being with people. He was full of personality and wanted to make a difference in this world. He was working on his Ph.D. in Molecular Ecology at Northern Arizona University. He loved being in the outdoors and with his daughter Ava and beautiful wife Anna. We will miss Brian but are comforted by our faith."

Until all the facts surrounding this tragic incident are known, it is inappropriate to jump to conclusions on the cause of death. We believe that TASER® technology protects life and if called upon we are prepared to help the investigation of this unfortunate incident.

Although, no use of force device is risk free including TASER technology, when used properly, medical and law enforcement experts have concluded that TASER technology is among the most effective response to resistance available to law enforcement officers to halt potentially violent situations that may pose a safety risk to an officer, suspect or innocent citizens.

For the past two years, National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has conducted a review and study of in-custody deaths which have occurred following the use of a TASER brand devices. The interim report, release last summer concluded in its findings that:

"Although exposure to CED is not risk free, there is no conclusive medical evidence within the state of current research that indicates a high risk of serious injury or death from the direct effects of CED exposure. Field experience with CED use indicates that exposure is safe in the vast majority of cases. Therefore, law enforcement need not refrain from deploying CEDs, provided the devices are used in accordance with accepted national guidelines."

"While we continue to acknowledge that TASER® technology is not risk free, the NIJ report speaks volumes affirming our previous statements concerning the safety of TASER devices and provides an invaluable independent report to our critics.

STATS: As of March 31, 2009 TASER International has sold approximately 406,000 TASER® brand electronic control devices (ECDs) to more than 142,200 law enforcement and military agencies. There are 177 law enforcement agencies in Utah that deploy our TASER technology.

Sincerely,
Steve Tuttle
Vice President of Communications