New Taser can strike suspect 100 feet away!

COLUMBUS, Ohio - March 27, 2011 - Columbus police have deployed a new shotgun-style stun gun that can hit targets up to 100 feet away.

The Taser X12 shoots wireless cartridges that travel about 1,000 feet per second, officials said. The projectiles are similar in size and shape to traditional shotgun shells

"It's incredibly accurate," said Sgt. Matt Weekley.

The projectile is barbed and flies prongs first. Once it strikes its target, the prongs attach to the body through clothing.

The force of the strike causes the back end of the projectile to come apart and attach to another part of the body, completing a circuit. The two pieces are held together by a 14-inch wire. Gravity pulls the second piece, also barbed, back into contact with the body.

Once the prongs are in contact with the skin in two places, the person receives a 20-second high-voltage, low-current electrical shock that incapacitates him or her, Weekley said.

The lead portion of the projectile is also barbed on the back side so that if a suspect clamps his hand over it in surprise, he will receive a shock.

The X12 holds four cartridges and operates like a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, according to Taser International, the company that produces the weapon.

To prevent accidents, regular shotgun shells cannot be loaded into the stun gun, said Weekley.

Police will use the new stun guns in life-threatening situations where the use of force is justified, such as barricade situations, riots, when Molotov cocktails are thrown or when someone is threatening suicide with a knife, Weekley said.

Once a suspect is immobilized, officers can handcuff him or her without having to physically subdue him, he said.

Weekley thinks that the use of Tasers has decreased injuries to officers and suspects since the department first used hand-held models in 2003.

"I think it's lowered our use of force," Weekley said. Officers can use the hand-held Taser to subdue a suspect who is a danger to himself or others or to warn an agitated crowd to disperse, he said.