Austin Police used a robot to defuse a standoff that left one Austin Police Officer shot and another injured, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.'
Police Chief Brian Manley says it began when officers were called to a duplex in the southeast part of the city. One family told officers they didn't call police, and the other duplex appeared to be empty, with nobody answering the door.
"As the officers were leaving, shots were fired from inside the residents, and one of our officers was struck by that gunfire," Manley said. He then dispatched SWAT officers to the scene and they traded gunfire with a man inside the house.
After negotiations broke down, Manley says a robot was dispatched to not just break down the door and gain entrance to the home, but to transmit back photographs of the inside of the house, to determine where the gunman was.
"We know that the suspect exited the front door, along with a female," he said. "At that time, one of our officers fired on the suspect, and the suspect went down."
He says the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman was hustled off by police and was not hurt. No word on what prompted the incident.
The officer who was shot is being treated for non-life threatening wounds.
PHOTO COURTESY: SPECTRUM NEWS AUSTIN