K9 Diesel – Saint-Denis, France

Died 11/18/15

Brave police dog Diesel killed by woman suicide bomber in Paris siege

A anti-terror police dog has died after being blown up by a female suicide bomber during a firefight with suspected ISIS militants behind the Paris massacre. The seven-year-old Belgian Shepherd named Diesel was killed during a raid by up to 100 police and soldiers on a flat in the French capital this morning. A witness said Diesel, who is trained to sniff out explosives, was blown to pieces when a jihadi bride came out firing her AK-47 at police before detonating her suicide vest. Tributes quickly poured in to the respected canine, with one police handler saying: ‘It’s a little like losing one our colleagues.’ Diesel had ‘died to defend our colors’. The official profile for Police Nationale tweeted that Diesel ‘was killed by terrorists in the current operation in Saint-Denis’ .The force said that ‘assault and explosives’ search dogs are indispensable to the work of the French anti-terror unit known as RAID. More than 100 police and soldiers were involved in a gunfight with up to six suspected Paris terrorists holed up in the flat including the mastermind behind the atrocities. The stand-off ended as a bloodied and half-naked suspect was dragged out of an apartment block through broken glass in Saint-Denis – close to the Stade de France. The gunfight started at 4.30am when SWAT teams and special forces surrounded the building believing the architect of the massacres that killed 129 people, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 27, was inside. It is not known if he is dead or alive. A woman ‘with long blonde hair’ who may be Abaaoud’s jihadi bride is said to have fired her AK-47 at police before blowing herself up as an assault squad first stormed the apartment block. Survivors of the Bataclan massacre where 89 people died insisted there was a female shooter. Lotfi, a 50-year-old who was in the area, said: ‘I heard police officers talking to a woman with long blonde hair. ‘I think she was the kamikaze. They told her not to lower her arms, to keep her hands up in the air, and then there was a massive explosion. I think that’s when she detonated her bomb. It really was a very loud explosion.’ ‘Lots of windows on the street were shattered, and then the firefight started and it was going on nonstop.’ Lofti, who would not offer his surname, said he saw Diesel blown to pieces. As the suicide bomber attacked police, a rooftop sniper shot dead another terror suspect through a window. Police said that five people in the apartment were taken alive and arrested while two others were held ‘nearby’. At least five police were injured in the ferocious gunfight including one shot in the foot seen being carried from the scene. Security had been watching several flats in Saint-Denis since yesterday and also tapped phones before they swooped this morning believing Abaaoud and other terrorists were inside.

Submitted By Jim Cortina

James A. Cortina has been involved with police dogs since 1972 and currently on the Board of Directors for the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Inc. Jim has been appointed as Treasurer since its inception in 1991. Jim is one of the charter members of the C.P.W.D.A. organization. Since 1975 he has been a certified professional dog trainer and received his Master Trainer Certification in 1985. During his career he has provided armed K-9 strike crowd control for security agencies in Connecticut and out of state security companies. In conjunction with other members of the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Inc. Board of Directors, he helped to draft Connecticut Statute 53-247(e) "Intentional Injury or Killing of Police K-9" which was passed by the Senate in 1993 and also assisted in implementing the prestigious Daniel Wasson Memorial K-9 Award in 1992. In 1993 he helped coordinate the North American Police Work Dog Association Nationals in New London, Connecticut. He was appointed Training Director for the New London County Work Dog Association from 1985-1987. He performed decoy work for Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Inc. in police K-9 demonstrations, trained several local police department canines, and coordinated training workshops for out-of-state police departments. He participated in the United States Police K-9 Association Trials in Croton on Hudson, New York in 1985 as a decoy. He is an avid photographer and received photography awards in 1989, 1990, and 1991 and currently takes photographs for the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Inc.