HYANNIS, MASS. (WHDH) - A man in Hyannis was taken into custody earlier this month after a tense, hours-long standoff during which he allegedly held people at knifepoint and opened fire on SWAT officers.
Massachusetts State Police are crediting a special member of the force for helping to make sure the situation was successfully resolved without bloodshed: Roscoe, a SPOT four-legged robot.
“Deployment of the remote-controlled robotic platforms allowed the team to safely gather crucial intelligence and provide situational awareness of the suspect and the home’s interior,” State Police said in a statement. “The Troopers conducted interior and exterior robotic operations to systematically check the house.”
After clearing the first two floors of the house, Roscoe, controlled by Trooper John Ragosa, began to check the basement. After clearing one closet, the robot was about to open another door when the suspect “appeared from a bedroom armed with a rifle” and knocked the robotic dog down.
The suspect then began to walk up the stairs from the basement level, but using the SPOT robot’s self-righting function, Ragosa returned Roscoe to his feet and followed the suspect up the stairs, to his apparent surprise.
“The Troopers would later discover that that Roscoe had been shot three times by the suspect and had been rendered inoperable,” State Police said.
SWAT operators later introduced tear gas into the house and the suspect surrendered. He was taken into custody by Barnstable Police.
“The incident provided a stark example of the benefits of mobile platforms capable of opening doors and ascending stairs in tactical missions involving armed suspects,” State Police said. “In addition to providing critically important room clearance and situational awareness capabilities, the insertion of Roscoe into the suspect residence prevented the need, at that stage of response, from inserting human operators, and may have prevented a police officer from being involved in an exchange of gunfire.”
The process of replacing Roscoe with a new SPOT platform is underway.
“The Massachusetts State Police and the Department of Fire Services are committed to the use of advanced technology such as mobile robotic platforms to resolve hostile situations while reducing the threat to human life,” State Police said.
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