'Rubber bullets' is a common term for non-lethal ammunition used by military and law enforcement for crowd control. Although not stated in this report, it is likely the police used non-lethal pistol rounds in 9mm calibre. These fire rubber or plastic bullets at low velocity. That said, few people would have the skill to hit the hand of an assailant at (say) 5 metres and it is more likely she was shot in the torso.