SYDNEY: Police in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) have temporarily suspended the use of bean bag rounds after a woman aged 47 was shot by officers and later died in the hospital.
“The suspension will remain in place until we do a full review of the capability and see if it’s worth continuing,” NSW Police Acting Commissioner David Hudson confirmed at a press conference held on Tuesday, reported Xinhua.
“It is a less-than-lethal option or so defined and if we remove it permanently from our capability, we will only be left with Tasers between a baton and a firearm and that’s a concern to us,” he noted.
At around 12.30 pm local time on Thursday, police were called to a unit complex on Mitchell Street in Stockton, a suburb of Newcastle, following reports of a woman threatening people with an axe.
After a nine-hour standoff, police implemented a number of tactical options, including a Taser and impact munitions, before the 47-year-old woman was taken into custody. She was able to walk to a nearby ambulance but later died in the hospital.
According to Hudson, interim post-mortem examination results showed that the death was caused by “a gunshot (bean bag striking her heart) wound to the chest”. – BERNAMA-XINHUA
