Family members question whether stun gun use was excessive

DES MOINES, Iowa —Newly released records show that a 39-year-old man was shocked with stun guns at least 15 times before his death as Worth County Sheriff’s deputies tried to subdue him.

The Des Moines Register filed a lawsuit to obtain the records from the Sept. 22 incident in Northwood after the officers were officially cleared of any wrongdoing.

The deputies shocked Michael Zubrod after finding him beating his girlfriend with a hammer and scissors. He also attacked a deputy.

His girlfriend underwent numerous surgeries as a result of stab wounds and blunt force injuries.

After finally subduing Zubrod, he became unresponsive and couldn’t be revived.

Zubrod’s family members question whether the deputies’ stun gun use was excessive.

But law enforcement experts say it’s hard to evaluate the deputies’ actions because the videos don’t show what happened in the minutes before the stun guns were used.

His death was ruled a homicide by the Iowa Medical Examiner, who said the official cause of death was a heart problem following an altercation with law enforcement while “in the setting of acute methamphetamine intoxication.”