A St. Paul officer used PepperBall to get a woman into custody after she threatened to blow up a building and suddenly came at police officers, according to police. It was the first time it’s been used since the department began a pilot program this month.
The PepperBall launcher, which looks like a handgun with orange along the top, shoots a powder that has a similar effect as pepper spray. On Monday, a 40-year-old woman called her landlord and said she was going to turn on the gas in the Payne-Phalen apartment and blow up the building, said Sgt. Mike Ernster, a St. Paul police spokesman. The landlord called 911, as did other residents because they smelled gas.
Authorities evacuated the small building and neighboring houses around Maryland Avenue and Desoto Street when they responded about 9 a.m.