A coward gunned down a police Ok-9 throughout a routine visitors cease in California, earlier than additionally being shot lifeless when he opened fireplace at officers following a hours-long standoff.
The unidentified shooter had been the passenger in a automobile that was stopped late Saturday on the I-5 in Burbank for illegally tinted home windows, the Los Angeles Occasions reported.
Whereas the driving force cooperated with officers, the passenger raced off, leaping off an embankment, sparking an enormous hunt involving a police helicopter.
A police Ok-9 officer, Spike, then discovered him hiding in bushes alongside the freeway — only for the suspect to fireplace “a number of rounds, hanging the canine earlier than fleeing on foot,” police mentioned.
The suspect was finally cornered, with negotiators talking in Spanish and English throughout a three-and-a-half-hour standoff. It ended with him being shot and killed by police when he shot at two of their automobiles, police mentioned.
Though Spike was carrying a ballistic vest, “the vest doesn’t at all times prevent,” Lt. Derek Inexperienced advised reporters Sunday.
“And not using a shadow of a doubt, K9 Spike lived as much as his pledge. K9 Spike made the last word sacrifice, placing his life on the road for his household,” the division mentioned of the 4-year-old Belgian Malinois.
“Your mission is full, hero. Relaxation in heaven, take pleasure in infinite treats and all of the bites your courageous coronary heart wishes.”
“It is a powerful one,” Inexperienced mentioned. “These are cops. They’re canine, however they’re a part of the regulation enforcement household… educated to do precisely what this canine officer did. These canine are educated to have interaction suspects in probably the most harmful conditions.”
Spike had spent 21 months with the power, the place he grew to become a preferred fixture at neighborhood occasions.
“Thanks for the numerous smiles you dropped at the Burbank PD household together with your presence,” the division mentioned.
