14-year-old boy Tasered by Salt Lake police

Salt Lake City police used a Taser on a 14-year-old boy during a confrontation at The Gateway mall.

Police said the incident happened Saturday afternoon, when mall security called officers to help them eject a group of teenagers.

"One group of kids was bullying and picking on another group of kids," Salt Lake City police detective Dennis McGowan said Monday. "Mall security wanted them to leave, and they refused to leave."

As officers approached the teens and tried to get them to leave, police said the 14-year-old boy became combative.

"He said, 'Man, I didn't do anything. I'm not leaving,"' McGowan said. "He refused to leave. He began to curse at the officer."

Police said the boy became combative and refused to comply with an arrest. At one point, McGowan said, the teen took an "aggressive stance" toward officers. That was when one officer used a Taser on the boy.

"It was a five-second burst," McGowan said of the electric shock. "Under the circumstances, the force was necessary."

Paramedics were called to examine the boy before he was booked into a juvenile detention facility, police said.

— Ben Winslow

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