In an alleged “nationwide first” use of drones to disarm a person, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office in California promoted a video showing how a small quadcopter drone used a hanging magnet to remove a knife from the hand of a motionless suspect.
The promotional video shared on Facebook and Instagram on June 22, 2026 uses the theme from the Mission: Impossible film franchise to dramatize video footage of the incident that took place earlier in the month, which involved what the video describes as a “felony suspect armed with a knife and a firearm” who “was not responding to negotiators.” The sheriff’s office is just one of hundreds of U.S. police departments and sheriff’s offices that have deployed drones equipped with cameras to assist first responders.
In a Facebook post, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office described surrounding the suspect’s residence with a SWAT team after “the known felon and parolee was previously seen with a firearm.” A first drone deployed to the scene located the suspect hiding in a corner of the garage, but also saw the suspect motionless holding a knife in an outstretched arm.
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