Local

Mall manager in Taser videos loses job

ATLANTA — The mall manager who recorded himself shocking several people with a Taser gun says he is now out of a job.

Management says it's a simple revenue matter and they can no longer afford to keep Darien Long as onsite manager of the downtown Atlanta mall.

Police recently raided the mall for counterfeit goods, and Long thinks his bosses may not like the attention his videos have brought to the property.

Long said the videos of him shocking people with a Taser gun, including one of him shocking a woman in front of her kids, are examples of the work he put into cleaning up behavior at the mall.

"There's a whole lot of stuff that was going on in there, and I stopped a lot of it," Long said.

March 31 will be Long's last day at Metro Mall. Mall management told Channel 2's Amy Napier Viteri they have lost several vendors and cannot afford to keep Long on the payroll.

Long said he thinks criminal activity will go up once he's gone.

"No longer than two weeks it will be back to what it was before I got there," Long said.

Marcus Purnell has been on the other end of Long's Taser gun, and he has a different opinion.

"Basically, he instigates the whole situation. He pulls out his Taser trying to put fear in somebody's heart," Purnell said.

A February video shows Purnell writhing on the ground. According to the police report, Long told the Georgia State student to leave, but Purnell refused, saying he did nothing wrong. Long told police he felt Purnell and his friends were surrounding him when he shocked him in the back.

"I still feel emotionally distressed. I still feel the tasering still in my body. I still don't feel right at all," Purnell said.

Long said he did the job the best way he knew how by handling things thoroughly the first time around.

"You want me to come outside, you want me to get in your face, you know, let's get it done," Long said.

Purnell has hired an attorney and is pursuing a case against Long.

Long said he is not sure what he will do next, but since Channel 2 Action News first aired his story, he signed on with a talent manager and there is a possible reality show in the works.