News and Alerts

Blue Line
Canada’s National Law Enforcement Magazine
April 1997

"Force agrees to stop using weapon" The Ottawa-Carleton regional police agreed to stop using beanbag shotgun in late February after a man died shortly after being struck by one of the weapon's projectiles.Ontario Special Investigations Unit asked the force to stop using the weapon while it looks to the man's death.The request to stop using the beanbag projectile came after police were called to an apartment on Feb. 24, to deal with a man who was cutting himself with a knife.When the man refused to drop the weapon, a member of the SWAT team fired at him with the beanbag projectile in an attempt to disable him.An autopsy showed the man had died of severe blood loss. In a statement issued a day after the incident, SIU head Andre Marin also said the autopsy indicated that the beanbag shot was lodged inside the man's body.SWAT team members are the only officers qualified to use the weapon, which has been in use for about a year.Staff. Sgt. Terry Charbot, who oversees the SWAT team, said the force has never had a problem with the beanbags penetrating the skin before. The local press quoted Charbot as saying: "They're deemed less lethal ... (but) there's a possibility of injury with them. The tactical unit adhered to standard operating procedures in regards to the call."

The beanbags are two square inches, covered in nylon and contain 42 grams of birdshot. The projectile can travel at 280 feet per second.