By Elisabeth Strillacci

This story has been updated with the correct last name of Chief Deputy Jason Owens.

The new Vantage Breacher Robot from Transcend Robotics at the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office made its debut Monday afternoon and Sheriff Travis Allen credits it for saving at least one life.

Emergency dispatchers took a call Monday in which the caller said a male resident of an apartment complex appeared to be having a mental health crisis. The caller said the man was possibly suicidal and could be armed. Allen said the apartments are east of the central part of the county but declined to be more specific in order to preserve the privacy of the person, since he was not charged with any crime.

Chief Deputy Jason Owens said patrol officers were dispatched to the scene initially and residents were evacuated out of an abundance of caution. Once patrol officers were there, determined negotiators were needed.

“In truth, this was the first time we have been able to dispatch the entire lineup the way we should,” said Owens. Negotiators, in a new mobile unit that was recently completed, who have specific training in crisis situations, arrived on the scene following patrol, and Owens also directed the robot to the scene.

“This is the exact reason we got this particular robot,” said Allen. He and Owens explained that the person in crisis was initially communicating with the negotiators through his own phone. Negotiators do have what is called a “throw phone” that can be tossed in to a person in a scene and they can then communicate with officers through that, but since he was willing to use his own phone, they did not see it as a necessary tool.

After an hour, however, the man stopped communicating with officers. At that time, negotiators told Owens they had done what they could do, and the next step was his call. He decided to send in the robot. Though the robot can force entrance through doorways, in this case, officers had a key and were able to unlock the door and send the robot in.

“This is like Normandy, the robot gives the officers a beach,” said Allen. Deputies can see the scene and communicate with anyone in a building using the robot, and investigators were able to see the man inside his apartment and determine he was not waiting to ambush officers.

Deputies told the man they were not leaving, and asked him to surrender peacefully by coming out with his hands up, which he did.

“You know, before we had the robot, once negotiations come to an end, we have basically two options,” said Owens. “We either send officers in, which can put them at risk or if we have information that the person is a truly serious threat, we’ll send in chemicals, usually tear gas, and that would have filled the whole apartment building and affected everyone there far more than just an inconvenience. So having the robot was ideal.”

The robot is able to climb stairs, open doors, and secure areas without risking an officer’s life, and in this case it was able to resolve the situation peacefully, which is the overall goal.

“I see this as the first life saved with the robot,” said Allen. “This is the perfect scenario for what we had planned for the robot, and it makes it clear why we invested in it. In this world we have to keep up with technology and use every tool we can to resolve situations peacefully and successfully whenever possible.”

The person in the situation who had been in a crisis moment was taken to an area hospital to get the medical help he needed.