“On Dec. 15, 2012, Briston, the former Rankin police chief, was at the Meadows Racetrack and Casino in North Strabane Township,” pittsburgh.cbs.local reports. “Around 11:30 p.m., he ran into his estranged wife with another man. Briston approached the man and punched him in the face.” In the wake of the George Zimmerman trial, I think we can all agree that punching someone in the face is a bad idea for all concerned. Especially when you’ve got a pre-existing condition . . .
Security at the casino witnessed the violence and called police.
Briston took off running, but police caught up with him less than half of a mile away.
When he refused to be restrained, police warned they would use a Taser on him.
Briston didn’t comply and was Tased for two seconds in the upper-right leg.
He was placed into handcuffs and into the back of a cruiser.
A short time later, Briston started complaining about the handcuffs being too tight and shortness of breath.
An ambulance was called and Briston went into cardiac arrest. He was later pronounced dead at Canonsburg General Hospital.
“Essentially, what happened is you had a man with a preexisting heart condition that voluntarily engaged in strenuous, physical activity, consisting of assaulting another individual and then fled the scene, running and walking approximately a quarter-mile,” Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone said.
So the chief was an OFBF (Old Fat Black Guy) guilty of FWF (Fighting While Fat). Members of TTAG’s Armed Intelligentsia who’ve had the misfortune of experiencing a physical altercation will tell you: it’s an intensely exhausting business. If you’re not fit, that might be it.
A gunfight is a fight with a gun. Even if your firearm deters close-quarters combat you’re going to have The Mother of All Adrenalin Dumps increasing your heart rate, raising your blood pressure and diverting of blood away from your brain and internal organs into your muscles. Sustaining a BP of eight thousand over four hundred over time is not for the faint of heart—as chief Briston’s death proves.
The only solution: lose weight and exercise. Win – win. Even if you don’t ever find yourself in a defensive gun use or close quarters combat, you’ll live longer and better. I’m not saying you’ll be able to say “Go ahead and TASE me ‘bro.” But if push comes to shove your last thought on planet Earth won’t be “damn donuts!”