Relatives: Man who died after being tased by police in Espoo had intellectual disability

On 14 August 2026, a man in Espoo, Finland, passed away after being tased by a police officer's stun gun, according to relatives of the deceased. The incident took place at the Rinnekoti assisted living centre in the Lakisto neighbourhood of Espoo's Lakisto district. The Western Uusimaa Police Department announced the details of the incident on Tuesday.

According to the relatives, the man had an intellectual disability and resided at the assisted living facility. He was approximately 50 years old. The relatives stated that he did not know the reason for the police intervention and that he had suffered serious physical injuries, which led to his death.

The confrontation between the man and the police occurred at the Rinnekoti assisted living centre. Police stated that the man had been acting aggressively towards others in a public place, and that behavior continued after a police unit arrived on the scene. The man was injured during the incident, taken to the hospital for treatment, and later died.

The State Prosecutor Tapio Mäkinen, head of the prosecutor general office's police crimes unit, is the lead investigator in the case. Mäkinen said that a decision on whether to launch a preliminary investigation would be made in the coming days.

This was not the first time the police had been called to the Rinnekoti facility that week. On Thursday, 13 August, facility staff had called emergency services about an individual who was behaving aggressively. Police officers went to the facility to attempt to calm the situation. Emergency services were also called on Friday when the man's violent behavior persisted, and officers deployed the stun gun to de-escalate the situation.