SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — For the first time, a robot was used by a police department to kill someone.

Dallas police used their bomb squad robot to take out the sniper.

Dallas police Chief David Brown said when police had the sniper pinned down, instead of sending in someone who could have been killed or hurt, they attached a small bomb to the extension arm of their robot.

Then, they remotely drove it to the suspect and detonated the bomb, killing the suspect.

KRON’s Tech Reporter Gabe Slate met with a Silicon Valley robotics company who said robots are becoming a key tool in crime fighting. And we could be seeing them in the near future.

Watch the above video to see Gabe’s full report.