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Robot Snatches Rifle From Barricaded Suspect, Ends Standoff (latimes.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the cornered-in-California dept.

Slashdot reader schwit1 quotes the L.A. Times: An hours-long standoff in the darkness of the high desert came to a novel end when Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies used a robot to stealthily snatch a rifle from an attempted murder suspect, authorities said Thursday. Officials said the use of the robot to disarm a violent suspect was unprecedented for the Sheriff's Department, and comes as law enforcement agencies increasingly rely on military-grade technology to reduce the risk of injury during confrontations with civilians.

"The robot was a game changer here," said Capt. Jack Ewell, a tactical expert with the Sheriff's Department -- the largest sheriff's department in the nation. "We didn't have to risk a deputy's life to disarm a very violent man."
It was only later when the robot came back to also pull down a wire barricade that the 51-year-old suspect realized his gun was gone.

5 of 129 comments (clear)

  1. They disarmed him? by Calydor · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What happened to sending in the robot with a bomb to kill the suspect?

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    -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    1. Re:They disarmed him? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Police officer fired for not shooting a suspect:
      http://www.post-gazette.com/lo...
      (not the Onion).

  2. It's beginning.... by Nidi62 · · Score: 4, Funny

    The robots have begun to steal weapons. It's only a matter of time before the uprising starts.

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    The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
  3. A little sensational? by orlanz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The boring short version: So they noticed the idiot left his gun at his feet while laying flat on his belly in a small dune with a wire fence. The operator extended the arm through the wire fence and yanked it out. With the police up front and a helicopter above, he didn't notice.

    I guess ExtendaReach to the rescue? I feel sorry for the operators who don't get any credit. I wonder if those firefighter axes got similar treatment. "Firefighter Ax clears way out of burning building for trapped firefighter and baby."

  4. That's not all it took by DrXym · · Score: 5, Funny

    It also took his clothes, his boots and his motorcycle.