Nearly a year after the Key West Police Department purchased stun guns, officers found themselves in a situation that could have turned deadly if not for so-called "less-than-lethal" weapons, said Police Chief Donie Lee.

Officers armed with the Tasers and special shotgun rounds loaded with small bean bags were able to subdue a mentally agitated man armed with multiple knives who had barricaded himself inside a house March 13, according to police.

Key West spokeswoman Alyson Crean said the man was threatening to kill anyone who entered the house, while the person who called police hid in a back room.

"It's just another example of why less-than-lethal [weapons] are such great tools," Lee said, adding that neither the suspect, officers nor the other person in the house were seriously injured.

A police negotiator tried to talk the man into leaving the house peacefully, but he continued to throw knives at the door and threatened to "put a knife in the face" of the man hiding in the back room, police said. At one point, the man reportedly shouted, "That's it!" as he picked up a knife and moved toward the back room, Crean said.

Officers were fearful that the caller was about to be attacked, so they entered the house. One officer shot the man with a Taser, but the metal barbs did not make contact with the suspect, police said. Another officer who had just entered the house fired a "bean bag round" from a shotgun, which hit the suspect in the shoulder as another officer shot him with a Taser, this time making contact, police said.

Police then were able to take the suspect into custody.

The suspect's name, street address and other details are protected by the Florida Mental Health Act, sometimes referred to as the Baker Act, Crean said.

The incident illustrates the need for less-than-lethal weapons, Lee said. He has been a staunch advocate of the devices since the department bought 60 Tasers in May 2009 using money confiscated in drug cases.

Since then, police have used stun guns in at least 16 arrests. In two incidents, officers used the "dry stun" feature in which the metal barbs are held against the suspect rather than fired, according to records released in January. The threat of being "Tasered" also has proven to be an effective deterrent. Officers pulled Tasers without using them 191 times in the same period, records show.

Those records do not include incidents that have occurred since January.

Before the purchase of Tasers, the bean bag shotgun rounds were used as less-than-lethal weapons, Crean said.

Deputy Becky Herrin, spokeswoman for the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, said that agency has had electronic stun devices for the past three years. Sheriff Bob Peryam praised the Key West Police Department last year for purchasing the weapons, and called the stun devices "valuable tools" for anyone in law enforcement.

Lee and Peryam agree that law enforcement agencies like the weapons because a suspect often will cease fighting or running at the mere mention of them.

"They reduce injuries not only to police officers, but to suspects as well," Lee said, noting that last week's standoff "could have easily been a deadly situation."

The use of stun devices has not been without controversy. Some human rights groups such as Amnesty International say the devices are too easily abused.

alinhardt@keysnews.com