---

CALGARY (CBC) - A police officer used a Taser on a mentally disturbed teenaged mother to save the life of her critically ill infant, the Vancouver police say.
ADVERTISEMENT

The incident happened on Monday at about noon when officers and social workers went to the 18-year-old father's home searching for the 16-year-old mother and child, said police in a statement issued late Thursday night.

The mother and child had recently been reported missing from a foster home and social workers from the Ministry for Children and Family Development were concerned for the infant's health because the child was born with a life-threatening medical condition that required immediate attention, police said.

Police found the mother and child at the home and negotiated with the mother for an extended period without result.

Because the mother was holding the child in a way that caused officers to fear the baby could be smothered, an officer stepped in and stunned the mother with a Taser in her arm and upper back, said police.

The shock caused the mother to release her grip on the baby, and an officer then took the infant, which was transported to hospital by ambulance.

The mother was apprehended under the Mental Health Act and taken to hospital as well. Police reported no injuries to the child or mother.

The mother was identified as Misha Peterson in a Province newspaper report on Friday. Peterson’s own great-grandmother, Doreen Duncan, says she can't believe police would use a taser on a 16-year-old-girl who was holding a baby.

“They said she was holding baby too tight. You still could see the mark in her neck where she got tasered twice. What if they missed it?... You know, they could have hit baby. She had a baby in her arms,” Duncan told CBC News on Friday morning.

The statement said police would release more information Friday morning about the incident.

---