INDIANAPOLIS -- Before a traffic stop, and subsequent chase, escalated to a shootout between officers and a burglary suspect, police tried to use a pepper-ball gun to get him to comply.
The incident began as a traffic stop at a gas station on the northwest side. When the suspect, later identified as Jeffrey Cornell Tyson, refused to comply with officer's orders and became "very belligerent," officers fired several rounds from a pepper-ball gun into his vehicle.
A pepper-ball gun is a less-than-lethal device that shoots small projectiles containing a powdered chemical similar to pepper spray.
When the projectiles strike a surface – be it a wall, the ground, or a person – they burst open, releasing the irritating chemical into the air.
The chemical is intended to subdue combative suspects similar to how pepper spray is used.
The chemical failed to convince Tyson to comply with police, however. After being shot with several rounds, Tyson took off in his car – leading police on a wild chase that eventually ended in a shootout, and his death, on the near-east side.
READ MORE | IMPD officer shot, suspect killed after chase | Listen: Scanner audio of chase, shooting | 200 rounds fired in officer-involved shootout
Below is a video demonstrating what one model of a pepper-ball gun can do:
