KING5 NEWS
Non-lethal but powerful
Seattle police use new, non-lethal weapon
September 8, 2000, 01:00 PM
REPORTED BY Jeff Gradney

SEATTLE – Seattle police used a new, non-lethal weapon for the first time to subdue a
suspect at Eastlake Avenue and Harrison Street on Thursday evening.
The 25-minute stand-off with a
mentally ill man threatening to
use a knife ended when he was
stunned
with
an
M-26
Advanced Taser. Police said it
was the perfect solution to a
dangerous situation, preventing
injury to both the suspect as
well as officers.
"The neat thing is that when
you fire this, it immediately
incapacitates the subject. The
benefit is that once it's turned
off, they're perfectly fine,” said
Steve Ward of the Seattle
Police SWAT team.
Officer Steve Ward of Seattle SWAT Team with M26
The Advanced Taser fires tiny prongs connected to it by minute wires that send an
electrical shock, causing the target to temporarily lose muscle control.
After officer Tom Duran shot and killed mentally ill David Walker, who was also armed with
a knife, last April, mayor Paul Schell ordered police to find new and non-lethal weapons to
use.
In addition to being non-lethal, the Advanced Taser also has a computer data port from
which firing information can be gathered to help prevent misuse. The weapon costs
around $400.
The only drawback for officers training to use the Advanced Taser is that they have to
experience being shot themselves, an effect that has been described as “interesting.”