Former English Premier League striker Dalian Atkinson, who was best known for his time as a striker for Aston Villa, reportedly died on Sunday night after police hit him with a stun gun in Telford, England.
Atkinson, who also played for Sheffield Wednesday before his time at Aston Villa, was 48.
According to Sky News, Atkinson died of cardiac arrest as he was being taken to a local hospital.
“I had known him since he was a little boy, he was a famous footballer at one time,” an unnamed witness told Sky News. “He was friendly, he had no trouble that I know of.”
Atkinson’s father, Ernest, told the Mirror that his son was “very agitated” and “upset” at his home Sunday night before someone — not Ernest Atkinson — called the police.
“I don’t know if he was drunk or on drugs but he was very agitated and his mind was upset,” Ernest Atkinson said, adding that police used the Taser on his son in the street in front of his house.
Atkinson’s goal for Aston Villa against Wimbledon in October 1992 was named that season’s goal of the year by the BBC. That year, helped Aston Villa to a second-place finish in the Premier League, which was in its first season.
