A quadcopter hovering.

In a “nationwide first,” police officers used a drone to intercept a weapon from an armed suspect, signaling a potential shift in local law enforcement operations, California officials announced Monday. 

In a June 22 video posted on the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office’s Instagram page, an officer wearing goggles can be seen operating a drone to retrieve a knife from an armed suspect hiding inside a cluttered house. “After not responding to negotiators, a drone was deployed inside the residence,” the post says. “Drone pilots located the suspect hiding in a corner of a garage” and then used a high-powered magnet attached to the drone to grab the knife out of the suspect’s hand. In the video — which is soundtracked by the “Mission: Impossible” theme........

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