Aussie police suspend use of bean bag rounds after causing death

Police in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) have temporarily suspended the use of bean bag rounds after a woman aged 47 was shot by officers and later died in the hospital.

"That suspension will remain in place until we do a full review of the capability and see if it's worth continuing," NSW Police Acting Commissioner David Hudson confirmed at a press conference held on Tuesday.

"It is a less-than-lethal option or so defined and if we remove it permanently from our capability, we will only be left with Tasers between a baton and a firearm and that's a concern to us," he noted.

At around 12:30 p.m. local time on Thursday, police were called to a unit complex on Mitchell Street in Stockton, a suburb of Newcastle, following reports of a woman threatening people with an axe.

After a nine-hour standoff, police implemented a number of tactical options, including a Taser and impact munitions, before the 47-year-old woman was taken into custody. She was able to walk to a nearby ambulance but later died in the hospital.

According to Hudson, interim post-mortem examination results showed that the death was caused by "a gunshot wound to the chest."