Armed stand-off ends with robot shot, man in hospital

The opening shot of the robot rebellion this isn't, but it's still a reminder of how robots are slowly creeping into situations where humans and their fleshy bodies can't go. A five hour stand-off that began with a man pointing his gun at a neighbor in a mobile home park in North Fort Myers, Florida was ended when the suspect shot a bomb disposal robot sent in by police to video the man. After the encounter -- the man shot out the video camera's lens -- police moved in to "subdue" the man, although it's not clear whether they shot back. The suspect is now in hospital and is being evaluated for mental health problems: apparently he hadn't been taking his medication, and residents say his wife had just left him. The state of the robot is probably something along the lines of "broken."

[Via The Raw Feed]

[Wayne @ Oct 29th 2007 10:59AM]

robot pwnd

[blade417 @ Oct 29th 2007 11:04AM]

How dare he shoot at Johnny-5.

[Luke @ Oct 29th 2007 11:08AM]

"apparently he hadn't been taken his medication"

lets try that one more time =)

[something @ Oct 29th 2007 11:17AM]

I hate you people

[strider_mt2k @ Oct 29th 2007 11:18AM]

Well don't shoot his robot whatever you do.

[Tony @ Oct 29th 2007 12:11PM]

Their u go again, your pointing out grammar mistakes. Were you thinking people cared? You and me need to sort this annoying practice out!
Muah, ha ha!

[The ZeroCorpse @ Oct 29th 2007 11:11AM]

If I'm not mistaken, they consider this Assault on an officer, just the same as if you shoot a police dog. He's probably going to be the first person to be sentenced to a prison term for attacking a robot.

[Zhalfim Deyn @ Oct 29th 2007 12:11PM]

oh man, would that suck...

but he just might some street cred:

"hey man, what are you in for?"

"I shot a robot."

"...who are you? Sarah Connor?"

ok, guess not :P

[Chillin @ Oct 29th 2007 3:11PM]

Assault on a police officer? First off, firing a gun at something is not assault, it's attempted murder. Also, it will never be called an assault or attempted murder. At most this is destruction of property, possession of a firearm, maybe discharging a firearm unlawfully (if such a law exists in that jurisdiction).

Now if it was a police dog, horse, pigeon, cat, midget or any other living being it would be assault with a deadly weapon or attempted murder (most likely the latter).

[adium @ Oct 29th 2007 6:02PM]

chilin:

what happens when the robots have full on AI?

[aeo @ Oct 29th 2007 11:12AM]

Seems like a waste of a perfectly good robot if you ask me. The meat bags still had to go in an manually subdue the bad guy.

Note to self: put force field in front of camera lens on killer robot.

[Alexander @ Oct 29th 2007 12:01PM]

Or, you know, a shotgun on the robot.

[Jagannath A @ Oct 29th 2007 11:13AM]

clever!!
so the robot is blind now :D

at first reading the headline I thought the robot shot the suspect ;)

if its a combat robot shouldn't the camera be hidden/protected ?
anyway nice thinking on the part of the moron... shud be credited...
and at the end of the day good ol' cops had to come out lol

[EatingPie @ Oct 29th 2007 11:42AM]

It wasn't a combat robot actually. It was a bomb-disposal robot. It wasn't designed to be shot at, it was designed to be blown up.

-Pie

[Zhalfim Deyn @ Oct 29th 2007 1:42PM]

just a thought...

if it was meant to be blown up (or rather, survive explosions), wouldn't it be tougher than that? :P

I just felt like saying that, read no seriousness in my comment...

[brokenkeyboard @ Oct 29th 2007 5:11PM]

@Zhalfim Deyn

I don't think its designed to survive explosions, just to hopefully prevent them. (If it doesn't succeed in preventing one, losing the robot is probably not the biggest concern.)

[Matthew Hilario @ Oct 29th 2007 11:18AM]

ow wow wow wow wow my robot sensors.

[strider_mt2k @ Oct 29th 2007 11:19AM]

WHY WAS I PROGRAMMED TO FEEL PAIN?????

[HineyWipe @ Oct 29th 2007 11:20AM]

I would have just thrown a wet blanket or garbage bag over the annoying, whining mechanical device. Oh wait, I'm not a candidate for an asylum so yes, go and shoot it. Remember, a homemade C4 pipe bomb, below the rib cage will blow up that thing, and then lure it into a hydraulic press...

[Dave @ Oct 29th 2007 11:26AM]

They called Sarah Connor crazy, too.

[TrentD @ Oct 29th 2007 11:33AM]

Haha! So true!

[energyvortex @ Oct 29th 2007 11:34AM]

@ZeroCorpse

Shooting a robot isn't (yet) the same as shooting a police dog. The robots are considered state government property though and there is a misdemeanor charge associated with damaging the equipment.

Police Unions in general have already agreed that they shouldn't convey the same penalties between a police controlled robotic machine, as they do to a dog preforming a job for the police department.

[newgalactic @ Oct 29th 2007 12:11PM]

I had that same question. I would hope that a police robot is not given the same status as a police dog. It's good to hear that police have taken this stance. Otherwise, this could totally be abused.

For example, over zealous cops want to trigger a response from crazy man, but can't due to proper rules of engagement. They send in robot to elicit a response. When crazy men freaks out and shoots "officer" Johnny-5, cops are cleared to legally engage with extreme prejudice.

[Karim @ Oct 29th 2007 11:34AM]

What the story doesn't mention is that the robot antagonized the man by saying, "Your move, creep."

Domo arigato, Officer Roboto.

[Andrew @ Oct 29th 2007 11:44AM]

You have 10 seconds to comply!

[Preston @ Oct 29th 2007 11:51AM]

Go ahead, make my day... punk.

[Blayne @ Oct 29th 2007 11:36AM]

That's going to be expensive.

[Grant @ Oct 29th 2007 1:03PM]

i wonder if they will send him a bill for destruction of government property.

[rzlmlchm009 @ Oct 29th 2007 2:33PM]

Nah, they'll just raise our taxes for it.

[Andrew @ Oct 29th 2007 11:41AM]

Police have just reviled that the next will be built from a poly-metal alloy.

[Don Corleone @ Oct 29th 2007 11:48AM]

Are you really a robot when a human controls you via remote control?

These are not robots, neither are bomb sniffers, bomb blowers, and neat flying airplanes with cameras in them.
Tinker toys.

[CKoz @ Oct 29th 2007 2:52PM]

True. They are actually RCVs

[Karim @ Oct 29th 2007 11:49AM]

When asked about repairing the robot, a technician for the Lee County Sheriff's Department said, "We'll get to work on him right away."

A tearful protocol droid could be overheard at the scene, saying, "You must repair him!" and "If any of my circuits or gears will help, I'll gladly donate them."

[aoeu00 @ Oct 29th 2007 11:51AM]

I'm waiting for the day when criminals use their own bots to combat the other robot.

[mlody11 @ Oct 29th 2007 11:53AM]

Danger Will Robinson Danger!

[Keefstar @ Oct 29th 2007 11:56AM]

This won't be the first robot to take a hit in the fight against humans especialy when toxic
'mental health medications' are involved. Another Doctor getting a kick back from selling legal street drugs...: "When trying to withdraw from many psychiatric drugs, patients can develop serious and even life-threatening emotional and physical reactions."
http://www.breggin.com/spellbinding_psychiatric_drugs.pdf

[Bobby @ Oct 29th 2007 12:12PM]

Check out this film on Post Humanism and the future
http://www.endgamethemovie.com/

[grjohnston @ Oct 29th 2007 12:13PM]

I'm sorry, but this kind of attitude towards a robot's very serious injuries is disrespectful and rude. How would you like it if your camera were shot at and people made fun of it? We need to support our robot-at-arms compatriots in these dark times. I'm sure if the robot could only read this, his feelings would be very hurt, and we should try to keep this in mind.

... for when the robots come to kill us all.

[strider_mt2k @ Oct 29th 2007 12:23PM]

I shot the robot,
but I didn't shoot the Deputy!

...all of a sudden I see robot John Brown,
aiming to shoot me down.

So I shot
I shot him down...

[kevjohn @ Oct 29th 2007 12:36PM]

"The suspect is now in hospital and is being evaluated for mental health problems"

You'd be crazy too if robots were after you! Freaking robots, man!!

[Jerry @ Oct 29th 2007 12:41PM]

SO... another mental patient and a firearm. And they say we have a gun problem... "yeah right"

The guy that caused the tragedy acquired a firearm due to paperwork not making it into the right hands.

Why does ANOTHER mental patient have access to firearms? We need a serious review of existing mental patients before another VT tragedy happens.

[Johan @ Oct 29th 2007 4:19PM]

"Why does ANOTHER mental patient have access to firearms?"

Because most sane people don't need them. They can deal with the world as it (presumably) is. However, if you have paranoid delusions, you NEED a shotgun, and whilst society might frown upon this, somebody with such strong emotions tends to find a way around rules and regulations.

Maybe we just need more cheap menacing robots for the nuts to vent their rage on? Anything as long as they don't hurt people.

[Grant @ Oct 29th 2007 1:04PM]

I, for one, welcome our newly blinded robot overlords.

[RyanTV @ Oct 29th 2007 1:06PM]

holy crap, my city is on Engadget. Now the whole world can see how redneck this place is.

[Gabe McGuinness @ Oct 29th 2007 1:44PM]

"The suspect is now in hospital and is being evaluated for mental health problems: apparently he hadn't been taken his medication, and residents say he had been paranoid lately about robots chasing him."

Fixed...

[Jon95 @ Oct 29th 2007 1:56PM]

This is just the best story...

[Rick @ Oct 29th 2007 3:25PM]

Robots aren't classified as humans so this is just a workplace accident.

[Shadrak @ Dec 19th 2007 7:36PM]

"No hard feelings..."

[R. C. @ Oct 29th 2007 8:11PM]

Portal referance=win!

Unless it wasn't, in which case, it should have been.

[Digital1 @ Oct 29th 2007 5:41PM]

I,for one, welcome our robotic,bullet attracting overlords.