Aussie police suspend use of bean bag rounds after causing death

Xinhua
19 Sep 2023, 15:18 GMT+10

SYDNEY, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- 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.

"That 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.

"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 p.m. 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 wound to the chest."

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