Dallas police used ‘bomb robot’ to kill shooter
The Dallas Police Department said Friday that it used a robot armed with an explosive to kill a sniper who killed five officers at a protest the night before.
“We cornered one suspect and we tried to negotiate for several hours,” Police Chief David Brown said at a press conference. “Negotiations broke down; we had an exchange of gunfire with the suspect.”
The DPD said it made the decision to send in the robot when negotiations with the attacker, identified later on Friday as Micah Johnson, reached a standstill.
“We saw no other option than to use our bomb robot and place a device on its extension to detonate where the suspect was,” Brown said. “Other options would have exposed our officers to grave danger.”
It was at that point that the police sent in the robotic device armed with an explosive to confront Johnson. The exact device the police used to “blast him out” is currently unknown.
In the recent past, police have used remote-controlled robotic technology to mitigate situations considered dangerous for police officers, such as disarming bombs. In 2015, police used a remotely controlled robot to deliver pizza and a phone to a potentially dangerous suicidal man. In 2014, police used a robot to launch tear gas into the motel room of a suicidal man with a gun. Both men survived the incidents.
However, this is the first time that officers have used a lethal robot in American policing, according to Peter W. Singer, an expert on trends in military technology. This tactic has typically been reserved for military drone use, making Thursday the first attack on a civilian carried out by a remotely controlled machine.
Yes, this is 1st use of robot in this way in policing. Marcbot has been ad hoc used this way by troops in Iraq. https://t.co/FfrsgLS2x1
— Peter W. Singer (@peterwsinger) July 8, 2016
“We’re not gonna let a coward who would ambush police officers change our democracy. We’re not gonna do that. Our city, our country is better than that,” Brown said in defense of his decision.
Three other suspects are currently in custody with the DPD regarding Thursday’s shootings, which killed five police officers and injured seven, in addition to injuring two civilians.
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