Beanbags & Bulletts

Dec. 21, 2005

A Traverse City policeman attempted to end a four-hour standoff with John Patrick Sutherland by shooting him with a beanbag missile, an alternative to bullets that ideally allows a police officer to disable a suspect without killing him.
A gentler alternative to bullets always sounds good, and newspapers across the country attest to their value, reporting how law officials have disabled armed suspects without bullets. The heavy nylon beanbag is shaped something like a tiny sock (a soft tip with a tail) and comes loaded in standard shotgun shells. The old style was square, much less accurate, and sometimes lethal.
Getting hit by a beanbag is not a walk in the park. It’s often compared to getting slammed by a professional pitcher’s fastball. But then again, it beats a bullet. Dozens of police stations throughout the nation stopped using “less lethal” beanbags in the last few years because they don’t always work as planned. They have ruptured eyeballs, broken bones, damaged spleens, ripped into chests, and killed a small number of people. Others still use them because profound injuries and death are relatively rare when officers are well trained.
But in this case, the question raised is whether the beanbag shots escalated a situation that was headed toward a nonviolent negotiation.

The Decision to Shoot
On September 23 — after hours of trying to get Sutherland to give up his gun and allow his wolves to be microchipped — Manistee County Sheriff Dale Kowalkowski asked the negotiator of an Emergency Response Team (akin to a SWAT team) to talk to Sutherland on a hard-line phone. Soon after, SWAT team members set a phone on the hood of Sutherland’s Ford Bronco, according to reports included in a Michigan State Police investigation.
The sheriff was then asked about use of force. He told Manistee County deputy Christopher Kempf to tell SWAT team members that the use of a beanbag gun was authorized, but emphasized that Sutherland was to be taken alive. Leelanau County deputy Terrance Cadieux heard Kempf then tell Traverse City Police officer Andrew Grubb to shoot a beanbag “if necessary.” (Grubb was equipped with a 12-gauge shotgun that shoots beanbags.) Interestingly at this time, emergency medical personnel were contacted and advised that Sutherland said he wouldn’t be taken alive and were asked to stand by at a nearby Laundromat, the staging area, according to reports.
This is what happened next, according to Grubb’s interview with an investigator: Sutherland walked from the shadows into an open clearing to speak on the phone to the negotiator. Just as he began to talk, Grubb, noting he had a clear shot, fired at Sutherland in the rib cage area from 15 to 20 feet away. Grubb affirmed to the investigator that he was supposed to use the beanbag when he saw a good opportunity.
Sutherland did not go down, but yelled out, “What the hell did you do that for?” and Grubb shot him “again and again on center mass” and Sutherland went down along the driver’s door and back pedaled toward the rear of the Bronco. SWAT team officers charged in to arrest him and an officer yelled to Sutherland to put his gun down. Grand Traverse Band Deputy Eric Fant (a SWAT team member) said that Sutherland yelled, “F*ck off! You’re going to have to kill me!”
Grubb came up from the passenger side, racked his shotgun, and saw that Sutherland held a gun. He shot Sutherland one or two more times from about six to seven feet away. Sutherland, who was crouched down, simultaneously fired back at him and Grubb felt pain on the side of his hip and backed up. Grubb went down to the ground to check his hip, and then stood up and said, “I’ve been hit.” He doesn’t recall seeing the flash of Sutherland’s muzzle. When deputies heard the gunshot, they returned fire.
So there it was. A phone call to negotiate, beanbag shots, a drawn gun, a volley of bullets, a wounded deputy, a dead man.
It seems that the sheriff was surprised by the outcome. His first question after the shooting was, “Where’s Deputy Kempf?” and “What did he say to the other ERT members?” He asked Kempf to write what he told the officers. This is what Kempf wrote shortly after the shooting: “The R/O (responding officer, who is Kempf) told Officer Grubb that the sheriff had advised him that beanbagging the suspect was authorized. The R/O also advised Officer Grubb that the sheriff stated anything that we could do to take the suspect alive. If he had to beanbag the suspect.”
It is unclear from the investigation how the sheriff’s order to authorize the beanbag if necessary to bring in the suspect was ultimately understood by Grubb to shoot at the first opportunity.

Difficult decisions
According to newspaper reports, officers typically receive extensive training to avoid fatalities. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that city officers were trained to judge distance because beanbags shot closer than 21 feet can cause injury or death. Officers are also advised to aim at the abdomen, thighs or forearms — not the center mass (beanbags are known to fatally penetrate the abdomen) — and they must first announce they are going to shoot a beanbag. Sutherland’s injuries reflect the close range of Grubb’s shots; two bean bags ruptured and left a streaked pattern of penetrating abrasions. They were not deemed lethal; an autopsy report said the bullets killed him.
Crawford County Sheriff Kirk Wakefield, who oversees the three emergency response teams in Northern Michigan, said that Grubb and others are trained on how to use “less lethal” options as safely as possible. But a textbook approach is not always realistic.
“The situation will dictate how close you are. Once you’re out in the field, things can go down the toilet real quick. Excuse my frankness, but that’s how it is,” he said.
Traverse City Sgt. Steve Drzewiecki, who oversees the SWAT team for Benzie, Leelanau and Grand Traverse counties, said that Grubb’s initial shots were from a safe distance, and the latter two shots were too close. But the situation evolved by then to one of self-defense.
“He saw that he (Sutherland) was kneeling down and holding a gun. When the gun is presented, it is considered a lethal force. You have to do what needs to be done to protect yourself.”
The Manistee County prosecutor deemed the shooting a “justifiable homicide,” and deputies interviewed believed they were in a “kill or get killed” situation.
But there remains the issue of shooting a man moments after he picks up a phone to negotiate. Even if it’s with just a beanbag.