Sheriff’s deputies in Pinal County are getting some new crime-fighting tools-- non-lethal guns.
The deputies already carry tasers but Sheriff Paul Babeu said the new weapons will give them another way of stopping a suspect without killing them. The sheriff said the non-lethal guns fire a Tootsie Roll-sized projectile at about 90 miles per hour, and he believes they could have been helpful in a recent county case.
"We had a 16-year-old who had threatened his ex-girlfriend’s father that he was gonna kill him," Babeu said. "He was hiding out outside the house in the bushes, so my deputies respond lights and sirens and they believe he has a gun. Ends up he didn’t have a gun.”
Babeu said he hopes the weapons will prevent deaths. He hopes they can be used at times when officers don’t have other non-lethal options.