Robotic police dog shot, may have prevented bloodshed

A robotic dog is being thanked by state police in Massachusetts for helping avert a tragedy involving a person barricaded in a home.

The robotic dog named Roscoe was part of the Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad and deployed on March 6 in a house in Barnstable, on Cape Cod, after police were fired upon. Police sent two other robots often used for bomb disposal into the house to find the suspect along with the robotic dog.

Controlled remotely by state troopers, Roscoe first checked the two main floors before finding someone in the basement. The person, armed with a rifle, twice knocked over the robotic dog before shooting it three times and disabling its communication. The person then shot at one of the other robots and into an outdoor swimming pool before police deployed tear gas and made an arrest.

“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 a statement. “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.”

Boston Dynamics, the company that made the robotic dog known as a SPOT robot, said in a statement that it was the first time one had been shot.“We are relieved that the only casualty that day was our robot,”the company said.“It’s a great example of how mobile robots like Spot can be used to save lives.”