A robot dog is being credited with averting bloodshed and taking bullets while being used by Massachusetts State Police troopers during a house barricade incident this month.
The Boston Dynamics-built robot, nicknamed Roscoe, was deployed by state troopers at a residence in Barnstable on March 6.
Local police called in the troopers, including a bomb squad, after an armed man barricaded himself inside the house and shot at officers with a rifle, MSP said in a release Wednesday.
The Barnstable Police Department identified the suspect as Justin Moreira, 30. He is accused of holding his mother, unnamed by authorities, at knifepoint. Police were able to evacuate her and other family members from the home, leaving Mr. Moreira barricaded inside.
The robodog was piloted through the top two floors, which were cleared, then was sent into the basement, where he cleared a closet before Mr. Moreira emerged from a bedroom armed with a rifle.
Mr. Moreira purportedly knocked over Roscoe and started going up the stairs, only to be followed by the robot after it righted itself. Surprised by this, he shot it three times, rendering it inoperable, state police said.
“Roscoe … prevented the need, at that stage of response, from inserting human operators or a real dog, and may have prevented a police officer or K-9 partner from being involved in an exchange of gunfire,” MSP wrote.
Later, after more than seven hours of failed negotiations, the Cape Cod Regional SWAT team pumped tear gas inside, which prompted Mr. Moreira to surrender and leave the house.
He has been charged with several counts of attempted murder and additional gun charges, BPD said in a post on Facebook.
Roscoe was taken back to Boston Dynamics for a damage assessment and bullet removal, and it will be replaced by another robot dog. It was the first time one of the company’s robodogs was shot.
“We are relieved that the only casualty that day was our robot. It’s a great example of how mobile robots … can be used to save lives,” Boston Dynamics said in a statement to The Associated Press.