A SWAT standoff involving a man who boarded a Los Angeles Metro bus with a gun came to a peaceful end Wednesday morning after police deployed a robotic dog.
The standoff began around 4 a.m. near the intersection of Melrose and Western avenues when a passenger noticed the suspect sleeping on the bus with a gun under his seat, a Metro spokesperson told KTLA.
The bus driver and passengers evacuated and police surrounded the bus and called in the SWAT team.
-
Los Angeles police deployed a robotic dog to help end a standoff with an armed man on a Metro bus in Hollywood. Nov. 8, 2023. -
Los Angeles police deployed a robotic dog to help end a standoff with an armed man on a Metro bus in Hollywood. Nov. 8, 2023. -
Los Angeles police deployed a robotic dog to help end a standoff with an armed man on a Metro bus in Hollywood. Nov. 8, 2023. -
“Spot”, a quadruped robot developped by Boston Dynamics, is displayed on June 9, 2022 during a presentation to the media at the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, near Naples, southern Italy. – Spot is one the latest monitoring operations of the archaeological structures, capable of inspecting the smallest of spaces in complete safety, gathering and recording data useful for the study and planning of interventions, to improve both the quality of monitoring of the existing areas, and to further our knowledge of the state of progress of the works in those areas undergoing recovery or restoration, and thereby to manage the safety of the site, as well as that of workers. (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP) (Photo by ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP via Getty Images) -
Police shut down the intersection of two major Los Angeles thoroughfares to investigate reports of a man armed with a gun on a Metro bus on Nov. 8, 2023. -
Police shut down the intersection of two major Los Angeles thoroughfares to investigate reports of a man armed with a gun on a Metro bus on Nov. 8, 2023. -
Police shut down the intersection of two major Los Angeles thoroughfares to investigate reports of a man armed with a gun on a Metro bus on Nov. 8, 2023.
Sky5 footage shows officers deploying a “Quadruped Unmanned Ground Vehicle” – or a robot dog – which boarded the bus and retrieved the man’s weapon, police said.
The suspect eventually stepped out of the bus and, after acting erratically for a few moments, surrendered to officers.
No injuries were reported.
The Quadruped, named “Spot,” was gifted to LAPD’s Metropolitan Division by the Los Angeles Police Foundation in March and approved for use in May.