It could be several days before the Anoka County Medical Examiner determines how 29 year old Mark Backlund died. Backlund was in a car crash Tuesday on 694, when state troopers arrived, they say he was uncooperative. Troopers shot him with a taser, Backlund died a short time later at the hospital.
Backlund was on his way to the airport to pick up his parents before the car accident. "We called when we got off the plane, Linda called, and there was no answer," Mark's Father Gordon explained. Minutes later Gordon Backlund got a call from one of his son's friends, saying Mark had died in a car accident.
The family rushed to the hospital to talk with doctors. "(They) said that he was in a car, had the accident and was thrashing somewhat about and next thing you know, his heart stopped," Gordon Backlund said. He took that information with him to the Medical Examiner's office on Wednesday. "She said do you know your son was tased, I said no, we didn't know that," Backlund said.
The family told KARE 11 Thursday they weren't too concerned at this point with the Medical Examiner's potential conclusions. "That was not our first concern, or even our second. What was important is we lost our son," Gordon explained.
Mark Backlund will be laid to rest on Monday; he leaves behind his parents, his sister, and his two year old son Nathaniel. "It's really hard to think about now. When I see his son, he (Mark) won't be able to come and see him too. He won't be there as Nathaniel grows up," Mark's sister Melanie Backlund Moe said.
Five state troopers are on standard administrative leave following the taser incident. Two of those troopers have been on the patrol for less than 2 months. The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is conducting an independent investigation.
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