An armed man was taken down with a bean bag round Monday (February 14) in Watertown, South Dakota.

According to Dakota News Now, a disturbed man armed with a pistol walked into the fire station in downtown Watertown on Monday.

As police rolled up to the building, the man walked outside and threatened to hurt himself. Officers gave repeated commands to drop the pistol and told him they would help him but he did not follow the commands.

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Eventually, one officer fired two beanbag rounds out of a shotgun. Another officer was able to subdue him right after being hit with the bean bags and took him into custody.

Bean bag rounds are essentially the same thing as a regular shotgun shell, but instead of firing the very lethal lead buckshot, they instead fire a fabric bag or sock that is filled with #9 birdshot. The flexible projectile is not rigid enough to penetrate the skin. Instead, it delivers a blow to the body in the same way a baseball bat or baton would. They are designed to be a "less-lethal" tool for police.

The shotguns themselves are usually dedicated to using only for bean bag rounds, often made with bright-colored furniture to differentiate it from a shotgun that would be loaded with lethal rounds.

The term "less lethal" does not mean that it is "not lethal." One supplier of the rounds has a warning displayed saying "Danger: Shots to the head, neck, spine, thorax or heart can result in fatal or serious injury. For use only by qualified personnel trained in the use of these products."

Life on a Cattle Ranch in Western South Dakota

Life is different out in the country. One look at the photo from Robin Bickel and you quickly realize that a workday is quite different as well, after all, she lives out west in South Dakota Cattle Country.

Robin Bickel took time to tell KIKN Country a little bit about her life out west and life as a woman, working outdoors with animals and nature in God's Country. Bickel lives and works on a cattle ranch operated by herself, her father, Jack, and his brother Keith. How far out in the country is she? How does 50 miles west of Mobridge, South Dakota sound? Yep, mountain time out there.

Life is so different in Sioux Falls, South Dakota compared to what our friends on the farm and ranches deal with. It's a half-mile to the grocery store for our family. For Robin, it's 17 miles. However, it's a quick step out her door and she's right in the middle of where a lot of the groceries come from.


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