Several less-than-lethal tactics were used by the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office to take a man into custody early Monday morning (March 2nd).
It all began at 3:45 a.m. when a deputy saw a vehicle traveling at 120 MPH on I-41 near Lost Arrow Road in the Town of Byron.
The deputy took chase as the driver sped up to over 130 MPH. It was then that the Fond du Lac County Communications received information that the driver had recently been reported missing out of Winnebago County and had allegedly purchased a BB or pellet gun while expressing suicidal intentions.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office helped bring the vehicle to a stop with the use of a Stop Stick tire deflation device near County Trunk Highway D, when the driver exited the vehicle and began firing two Glock-style BB guns at the deputies.
They recognized immediately that the guns were firing BBs and attempted to talk the man down.
They eventually used less-lethal beanbag rounds, tasers, and a K9 officer to bring the standoff to an end.
The man was taken to a local hospital for a medical evaluation. Sheriff Ryan Waldschmidt praised his deputies’ restraint, saying, “Although the use of deadly force was justified in this scenario, a combination of multi-agency collaboration, communication, training, proper equipment, and immense restraint on the part of our deputies culminated in a professional and coordinated effort to safely resolve this potentially deadly situation.”
