( CNN ) -- A 20-year-old man died Sunday after being shot with a Taser device during a scuffle with a sheriff 's deputy in Maryland , a spokeswoman for the Frederick County Sheriff 's Office said . Amnesty International blames dozens of deaths on police use of stun guns . Cpl . Jennifer Bailey said deputies responding to a report of a fight in progress arrived at the location in Frederick , Maryland , just before 5 a.m . ET and found four people fighting . A deputy used a Taser device on one of the men , who fell unconscious , Bailey said . The man was taken to Frederick Memorial Hospital , where he was pronounced dead . His identity was not immediately released , pending the notification of his family . The deputy , who has not been identified publicly , has been placed on administrative leave with pay pending the completion of an investigation , Bailey said . Amnesty International has reported that , since June 2001 , more than 150 people have died in the United States after being subdued with a stun gun . The organization has called for police departments to suspend use of the devices pending study of their possible risks . Few have done so , said Amnesty , which added that more than 7,000 of the nation 's 18,000 law enforcement agencies use the devices . Last month , a police officer in Vancouver International Airport in Canada used a Taser device on a distraught 40-year-old man on his first airplane trip outside Poland . He died . In a statement released Friday , Taser International cited the Vancouver case and said it `` appears to follow the pattern of many in-custody deaths or deaths following a confrontation with police . Historically , medical science and forensic analysis has shown that these deaths are attributable to other factors and not the low-energy electrical discharge of the Taser . '' A bystander 's video of the Vancouver incident that showed the victim continuing to struggle after being shot with the device `` is proof that the Taser device was not the cause of his death , '' the company said on its Web site . Cardiac arrest caused by electrical current would have caused immediate death , it said . In addition , `` the video clearly shows symptoms of excited delirium , a potentially fatal condition marked by symptoms of exhaustion and mania such as heavy breathing , profuse sweating , confusion , disorientation and violence toward inanimate objects , '' the company said . `` We are taken aback by the number of media outlets that have irresponsibly published conclusive headlines blaming the Taser device and/or the law enforcement officers involved as the cause of death before completion of the investigation , '' said Tom Smith , the company 's founder and chairman of the board . But Amnesty International , noting that coroners have identified Tasers as a contributory factor in more than 30 deaths , said such a link can not be ruled out . The devices use compressed nitrogen to shoot two probes -- connected to the device by wire -- up to 35 feet away at speeds exceeding 100 mph . An electrical signal transmitted through the wires contacts the body or clothing , `` resulting in an immediate loss of the person 's neuromuscular control and the ability to perform coordinated action for the duration of the impulse , '' according to the company . E-mail to a friend .
Man dies after police use Taser device on him while breaking up fight in Maryland . Another man died in Canada last week after being shot with Taser gun . Amnesty International blames 150 deaths since 2001 on police stun guns . Taser International says many deaths involving stun guns have other causes .